It used to be a staple in malls across the country but JCPenney has lagged. Now the company is planning on spending $1 billion to help secure the 121-year-old department store’s future.
The company will use the money to remodel brick-and-mortar locations and will upgrade its online shopping platforms, The Associated Press reported.
Some of the funding will go to making the store’s supply chain more efficient and getting online orders to customers quickly.
CEO Marc Rosen, who took the lead at JCPenney in November 2021 after being an executive at Levi Strauss and Walmart, is looking to appeal to its core consumer - middle-income shoppers who want affordable clothing and housewares, hoping to draw them away from competition that may be too expensive or doesn’t have the customer service that JCPenney believes it can offer, the AP reported.
The promotion will be called “Make It Count,” a slogan to remind customers that JCPenney stands with them, matching their efforts to make every day, dollar and date night count,” the company said in a news release.
“Now is the time more than ever to lean into that and make sure that we’re delivering that experience for our customer,” Rosen told the AP. In the past, management targeted wealthier shoppers looking for trendy items and major appliances.
Some of the remodeling will be updating paint and brighter lighting, but stores will be relocating checkouts, from being scattered all over the building to a single cashier area. Shoppers will able to be checked out by employees who will have mobile scanners.
JCPenney had been under Chapter 11 reorganization but came out in December 2020 with new owners. When the company filed for bankruptcy it had almost $5 billion in debt. It currently has less than $500 million in debt remaining.
So far about 100 stores have been remodeled, the company said in a news release, with the goal of updating 50 to 100 of its 650 stores each year, the AP reported.