Updated: 5:56 p.m. ET

If you're Ron Johnson, touted as the wonder worker who would turn J.C. Penney (JCP) around, you can't be having much fun Monday.

The company's shares fell $2.67 to $17.97 today, their lowest price since March 2009. They're down 57% since February and nearly 15% since Thursday.

The problem Johnson faces is twofold. Right now, Wall Street is most definitely skeptical that Johnson's turnaround plan, which entails turning the department store chain into stores with a series of branded shops inside, will succeed before the company collapses. Credit Suisse downgraded the shares to "underperform" today and cut its price target 40% to $15, The Wall Street Journal noted.

And shoppers apparently are not any more excited about the business either. Fiscal-third-quarter​ sales, reported Friday, were down 26.1% from a year ago. The company reported a loss of $123 million, down from $143 million a year ago, but, well, big whoop.

Some 23% of third-quarter sales was clearance, up from 15% a year ago. The fourth quarter will be crucial to Penney's future and Johnson's.

The slump in Penney's stock price contrasts with the action in rivals Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), Target (TGT), Ross Stores (ROST) and TJX Companies (TJX). All are higher in a market that's modestly higher.

Johnson was hired away from Apple (AAPL), where he was in charge of the company's retail stores. But one problem he has is that he isn't selling iPhones or iMacs or iPads. He's selling jeans, socks, T-shirts, dresses, shoes and a host of other products that don't have the panache of Apple products.

One of Johnson’s biggest goals was to break the culture of sales and coupons that its customers had gotten used to, but he’s struggled to change the company’s pricing structure.

USA Today reported Monday that Penney's employees will be handing out more than 80 million small, holiday-theme circular buttons to customers between Black Friday through Christmas Eve. Each has a code on the back that, when entered on J.C. Penney's website, reveals whether a customer has won a prize. Some of the possibilities include a trip to Disneyland, tickets to Ellen Degeneres' show or J.C. Penney merchandise or gift cards.

Moreover, Penney will be holding at least two sales this year: on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Johnson told USA Today, promising "the lowest prices ever in the history of our company."

That comes despite promising a new store concept and a consistent pricing policy.

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