JC Penney 'Valentine's Day Massacre' coming?
Insiders are reportedly worried about rumors that the retailer's CEO will lay off hundreds at the corporate offices this month.
J.C. Penney (JCP) insiders are worried about upcoming layoffs this month, calling it a "Valentine's Day Massacre," The New York Post reports.There are rumors that CEO Ron Johnson may lay off at least 10% of the 3,000 employees working at the company's headquarters in Plano, Texas.
Johnson may have been itching to do this for a while but may have wanted to wait until the company's new fiscal year began, the Post reports. That's because laying people off costs money -- in severance pay, for example -- and Johnson didn't want to load up the previous fiscal year with even more expenses.
Sources tell the newspaper the company is running low on cash. And its third-quarter earnings report confirms it, showing that at the end of October J.C. Penney had $525 million in cash -- down from $1.1 billion a year earlier.
Johnson was asked about the rumors Wednesday on CNBC and didn't give a definitive answer. Here's what he said, according to The Dallas Morning News:
"No, no. There are a lot of rumors. We have a rumor a day, it seems like. Today it's about layoffs at our headquarters. I would never talk about that, but you've got to separate the facts from the rumors. Ultimately, we need to have the right cost structure for the business and we have to grow. And we're going to be sure we do those two things."
Johnson has been busy bringing in outside brands to stores, including Martha Stewart and Joe Fresh. Something has to give when you're making that kind of pricey investment, and the Post reports that the ax will likely fall on the designers and other employees who develop Penney's private-label brands.Already, the Post reports, private brands like St. John's Bay and Arizona are starting to disappear from stores.
More on moneyNOW
| Tags: | Retail |
I have been employed at JC Penney for the past twelve years and I can tell you that people are not pleased with the changes. Since discontinuing Cabin Creek, SJB, Towncraft. Gloria Vanderbuilt, and now Arizona, and sales altogether, the foot traffic in my store has dropped 85%. Once our store gets rid of Arizona, we might as well close the doors. I think that by the end of the year, JCP will file for chapter 7 or be bought out by another company. I lean towards the latter happening.
When Ingersoll Rand bought out the compnay I worked many years for one of the first things they did was have a luncheon. They have a history of liquidating companies so after the purchase we were all a little worried for our jobs. At the luncheon the CEO and others reassured us that they bought us to grow us not close us down. 2 Weeks later 120 in the office were let go. They called them in and fired them and escorted them out the door. They couldn't even go get personal belongings. The luncheon became kn ow as "The last Supper ". It took the 15 years to finally close the place that had been a mainstay in this little town for 70 years but IR held true to thier mission of profiting through liquidation rather than production. The product line they kept is made in China and India.
the new age of corporate management can't seem to figure out how to make a business run any more. JCP, Kmart and many others simply don't aks the customer what they need and even when they do they seem to ignore them and poof they are gone.
That sale pricing JCP did failed to draw me and prices never seemed like real bargains. I think the store needs a whole new approach of some kind in order to survive. They upscaled with Sephora and those prices are unreal in this economy. No woman is going to look that much better buying her cosmetics there instead of just Walmart. I think except for Kohl's that smaller, more affordable stores like Old Navy are doing better. Maybe JCP could downsize and go tthat way?
DATA PROVIDERS
Copyright © 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. See delay times for other exchanges.
Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information.
Japanese stock price data provided by Nomura Research Institute Ltd.; quotes delayed 20 minutes. Canadian fund data provided by CANNEX Financial Exchanges Ltd.
RECENT POSTS
While incompetent bosses like Michael Scott and Andy Bernard typically can’t survive in the workplace, office romances are a very real part of corporate culture.
- Southwest Airlines turns less legroom into $773M
- 'American Idol' gets sorry ratings for season finale
- Powerball's wacky sense of humor
- Millions of Facebook's users are actually pets
- Can crowd funding rescue the LA Times?
- Domino's debuts a DVD that smells like pizza
- Average US retirement age climbs to 61
- McDonald's aims to slim down its 145-item menu
- Bathroom reading goes digital with iPad TP stand
MARKET UPDATE
[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 ended this week with a bang, roaring to a new all-time high on the back of stronger-than-expected economic data, influential leadership, and an ongoing appreciation for the Fed's monetary policy support.
The bullish bias was evident in premarket action as the S&P futures pointed to a higher start without the benefit of any definitive news catalyst. Stocks indeed benefited from a blast of buying interest at the opening bell on this ... More
More Market News
TOP STOCKS
All hail the bull market, which ended the week with a big rally. But it also is starting to look a little like 1987, which suffered an epic blow-out.
MSN MONEY'S
- Shared
- Commented
- Viewed
