J.C. Penny to Stop Selling Home Appliances

[yogitunes]

Queer eye for the straight guy!

I think his wife is more afraid if they shop somewhere like JCPenneys, he may come home with options to upgrade to a guy who would take care of him better!

how many times have you been out shopping, and seen a husband and wife, and you could tell he is miserable, but drudges on....

even more that he ducks out long enough to slip you his number!...

she probably thinks he is SAFE going to Home Depot alone!....little does she know, he is going for some wood, but it ain't lumber!

 

[warmsecondrinse]

Yogi,

Stop. Reading. My. Mind.

I had pretty much the same thing running through my head last night while I was composing my responses. That's one reason it took me so long to write them, lol.

"... seen a husband and wife, and you could tell he is miserable, but drudges on..."

Saw that years ago with my ex. We'd just gotten off the plane and were on the tram/mini metro heading to the luggage area. next stop: Gay Days! There was a guy with three daughters aged about 9,11,& 13 and his wife. The girls were chattering away about what they planned to do while they were at Disney. His wife was bitching away giving him a list of chores and warnings not to f**k things up. She was performing a monologue and completely failed to notice he didn't even know she was talking. Daughters to his left, wife to his right, He was looking back and forth, smiling and adding a comment with his daughters, exhausted, depressed and resentful when he looked at his wife. The story was clear; "I love my daughters, but this life is totally NOT what I signed up for." Looking around the car it was clear my ex & I were not the only ones who noticed this.

Back then I was much more reticent and just felt bad for him. If I were in that situation today I'd be trying to figure out a way to let him know he does have options h

 

[iowabear]

Some bargains from April 1983

The last time JC Penney announced the end of appliance sales was Feb 1st, 1983.  Cedar Rapids had a large mall anchor JCP (built in 1979) with an appliance department.  I remember it being decent-sized but not as large as Sears.

 

I looked up the ads from that time and by April of 1983 they were advertising the following discounts.  By June 1983 they were advertising 25% all remaining stock and that was the end of it.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I defy anyone to find any statement by Jesus against men who have sex with men. Granted, there was no understanding of same-sex attraction back then, but Jesus even healed, with no recorded negative comment about them, a centurion's young male servant when such a relationship was known to include sexual relations. There is a lot of commentary by others against male-male sex, notably Paul, that stupid Christian scholars do not bother to realize is directed at the Roman civilization which was demonizing the growing Christian movement. It is like in the so-called Old Testament where there are all kinds of evil actions attributed to the Edomites, but that was the name of Israel's ancient enemy used to refer to the current oppressors of the Israelites whose name could not be spoken, much like Rome's name could not be used in criticism by the Christians so the social mores of the Roman civilization which did include male/male sex were used to reference the Romans.

Maybe Penney's did make a mistake in trying to change the thinking of a largely unsophisticated, bigoted segment of their shopping base whose learning stopped somewhere in high school and for whom Penny's was a step up from Arlen's, Woolco, Zayre and KMart. Many of these love-filled ardently Christian customers are the kinds who are responsible for the wave of homeless LGBT youth sleeping on the streets and whose schooling has stopped except in the rare cases where they find a full service shelter where they can live, learn life skills and continue their education. Their stupid, hate-filled preachers who have directed them to turn their backs on their children will not be there when they have to answer to God for abandoning their children.

 

[twintubdexter]

Yikes!

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">I clicked on this this JCP thread and was surprised that it turned into a religious "Tent Revival". I've always liked the positive discussion of department stores selling major appliances. In the suburban Emporium stores where I worked appliances were always sort of an "add-on" to the furniture area. Shortly before they ditched appliances, Macy's San Francisco added 3 model "dream" kitchens. The modern one was space-age and out of this world. I think at the time, Macy's California division had more money than they knew what to do with. Sales were that good. </span>

 

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">Jamile, although my current illness prohibits me from venturing out to malls, The Palm Springs Mall was already in decay when I moved here. The now defunct Gottschalk's was the only department store open and it wasn't much of an anchor. I believe the only original anchors were Penny's and Kmart, with more pricey stores like Saks and Bullock's located downtown which is currently undergoing a massive remodel of shopping, hotels and condos.  Department store shopping has moved to nearby Palm Desert with Macy's, Penny's and Sears located at Westfield Mall. </span>

 

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">Downtown seems to be losing it's "quaintness" at the expense of what's "hip & trendy"...</span>

 

 

 

[jamiel]

Agreed--Palm Springs Mall is dead dead dead--as I recall when we first started going there in 2009 the only thing open at that time was a Rite Aid (we happened into there one trip when the store was closing).

 

[fan-of-fans]

"I thought they did all the stores. My local Penny's went substantially up-scale a few years back with the remodel, marble floors through out, up-scale lighting, new racking, better layout."

Maybe certain classes of stores got upgrades like that. But the store here only got new paint colors and carpet around 2006 maybe. Then after hurricane Irma in 2017 there was some water damage and the store was closed for a few months. The only changes I noticed were new carpet and ceiling tiles due to the damage. They also removed the checkout counter in two of the departments.

A few months after that they did redo the jewelry department though.

But nothing like marble floors or new lighting. Maybe this was something they did to the stores that are older? The one here was built in 1991 so is relatively newer I'd guess.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Hunt Club

Anyone remember the Hunt Club brand? It reminded me of JCPenney's version of Ralph Lauren's Polo. In the early 2000s the brand became only a few men's items. Then it seemed to become their school uniform brand. After that it was done away with.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

It was just yesterday I actually went to our nearby Penny's at Oakland Mall with my daughter and a friend of hers...

 

Saw the appliance department, foretold by the banner outside the store stating, in the exact format:

 

So, to me, other than the predictable short time they are playing games with the Going Out Of Business ballyhoo that Sears is doing, nothing's changed...

 

As Sears and Montgomery Ward's were long the Ford/General Motors of the Specialty Store World, JC Penny could easily pass as the Chrysler, as past and now defunct contemporaries, are the AMC...

 

 

[COLOR=#ff0000; font-size: 24pt]WE NOW SELL [/COLOR]

 

[COLOR=#ff0000; font-size: 24pt]APPLIANCES![/COLOR]

 

[COLOR=#ff0000; font-size: 24pt]<span style="caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">-- Dave[/COLOR]</span>

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Some references on TV, to the retailer I have witnessed:

 

In the sitcom SANFORD AND SON, Fred is seen with a shovel, sharing with a scientist, his digging with it he was doing in the yard, explaining that it was an artifact of JayCeePennee...

 

While in another episode, Grady met this ugly gal he was dating "at JC Penny", as he'd told Fred and Lamont when asked... She'd recommended a burgundy tie to go with his suit of charcoal gray... And later on, Fred and Lamont bungle up the affair at their house, inviting Grady and his beau to have dinner in their living room and finding a way for him to screw up their rendezvous, to help the couple break up... (He wasn't in love with her as much as she had an affection for him, that with their help, he'd intended to blow off!)

 

Lastly, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW,  quotes Sheriff Andy Taylor to most-likely his Deputy Barney Fife: "You look good enough to be put in a JC Penny window!", as the that scene even got resurrected as a snippet on the A&E Biography of JC Penny, years ago, along with watching countless other episodes about the famous, I also had watched...

 

 

 

-- Dave

 

[man114]

Not entirely surprised. I went to check out the appliances after it was first announced and installed which I'll get to in a sec, but a few things first.

Our store received a complete Ron Johnson remodel and it looked and still looks fantastic. Making the excuse of Ellen, or mom mom and dad dad ads is really just an excuse.

The problem really was JCP did not have the money to really undertake those remodels. They also didn't have time to wait out the flat dollar pricing strategy to be accepted.

I think both were good ideas, but they alienated the usual shoppers who wanted gimmicky coupons and high low pricing. Mostly older folks who've shopped there a long time. That doesn't work. If it did everyone would be shopping at Sears because Shop Your Way is the best rewards program in existence. Only a handful of people will mess around with that stuff. The reason Sears wasn't successful with SYW is because its a gimmicky rewards program that largely caters to younger people who use rewards programs and the internet, but most of their shoppers are older just as they were at JCP, Macy's and Bon-Ton.

Now JCP backed themselves into a load of debt and were losing sales. I'm sure it would eventually have turned around but instead they ditched Ron Johnson and went back to the same old formula. It helped reverse things to some degree but didn't differentiate them, it was back to same old same old.

So then they decide to bring in appliances. I don't know what the precise reason but it likely had to do with Sears' issues. Except Sears was still competitive in appliances despite their struggles and had everything in place, allocated and designed to sell appliances. JCP had none of it other than the floor space to do it. They started it off in a few stores then for some unknown reason did a mass rollout. However they never really advertised it.

So they put the appliances in. They looked nice, the displays were modern and nice looking. Except no one was shopping them. The times I went there there were no customers and one associate. Soon there were no associates and an empty department.

One problem as I mentioned was lack of advertising. I saw a scant few ads for appliances. Can't sell what no one knows you have. Secondly the pricing was not competitive. Lowe's was almost always cheaper at the outset. Sears always had some of their typical gimmicks like free delivery or financing. Best Buy had better sale prices. Home Depot had better sale prices. Local places had better service because they advertised and had associates to sell the stuff.

There was simply no compelling reason to shop at JCP for appliances.

While I'd have stuck with it if I were them mainly because they have plenty of floor space I doubt appliances have enough turns that they wouldn't have gotten stuck with old models. They simply are not selling in necessary volumes to avoid it. With their questionable financial situation they probably can't afford to invest in it.

With Eddie wheeling and dealing to try and keep Sears alive and the talk of new small format stores, since he's somehow managed to keep this Sears stuff going so long if he somehow makes it last another year, two or longer those big debt payments JCP has coming were likely a factor in their decision to exit.

Had they had more money to stick with it it would have been one thing but they were out of the game too long and didn't market it well.

They need sales now. Not hopes of future sales. They don't have some rich hedge fund money manager like Fast Eddie wheeling and dealing to keep the game alive, nor the time to wait until he finally gives up on this Sears dream he can't seem to let go of. If you look at the track record of stores that were in Sears' financial situation with years of losses, almost all of them are already memories.

JCP also didn't have the luxury of having a still well known private brand like Kenmore to slap on anything they see fit.

JCP should focus on something more manageable that they're still somewhat known for like housewares, small appliances and cookware. Try and drain sales from Bed Bath and Beyond instead. Otherwise I could see them going in the same general direction Sears did but the more likely outcome isn't surviving bankruptcy even if the survival is short lived.

Rumor is JCP is reducing their appliances tomorrow. I'll be going to check it out and get pictures of their display setup because it looked quite nice.

 

[tolivac]

In my area for both Pennys and Sears-appliance shoppers could go to Best Buy or Lowes for better deals and assurance those places will be able to support the applainces in the future.The older Lowes is just next door to the Sears here!And they have a BIGGER Craftsman tool dept!!!The Craftsman tools are going from Sears to Lowes!!

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Oops, I meant it was pronounced by Fred Sanford as: "Jay Cee Penn-aaaayyyy!"

 

Wonder if the idea of your Lowe's getting Sears' Craftsman's tools just a matter of moving them from door to next door...

 

Our local retailer Ace Hardware was one outlet that I thought was actually going to carry Craftsman, and under the banners I'd seen in the tool selection was the actual Craftsman tools...

 

Seems as though, to me, Lowe's is actually more worthy chain-wide of gaining Craftsman than Home Depot, but don't know why...

 

 

 

-- Dave

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Yes, where did those days go?!

Well, I did have a Penny’s catalog from 1982, and other than major appliances, they sold everything...

So there was furniture, a whole line of light fixtures, every hand and power tool you could imagine, and every kind and sort of auto accessory... Not to mention things like carpeting, clothing, and jewelry...

— Dave

 

[mattl]

I've seen a number of commercials on TV for Penny's appliances, "Now, up to 40% off..."

 

[yogitunes]

JCPenney's had appliances back in 1988ish era.....I know there were small appliances, but I only recall washers/dryers....

as they had Frigidaire FL SpaceMates I was thinking of purchasing....by 1990 they were on clearance....

Sears had this same set on floor model clearance as well....oddly Sears had the better price so that's where I got them....

 

[jamiel]

I'd almost believe that they reached a tipping point with their vendors (GE/Samsung/…) where they had to put up or shut up regarding inventory--believe I read that they were strictly ordertakers for the manufacturers and hosted no inventory. They may have reached a point where they needed to pony up for inventory, but didn't have the business case to do that. They were probably acceptably productive (on a sales/square foot basis) without any inventory investment, but any investment ruined the business case. I knew one couple who bought some appliances there 18 months or so who shopped pretty hard...believe they had a 12 months same as cash which sold them.

As I recall they discontinued full-line whitegoods in 1981/2 as mentioned, but believe they kept WCI front-load stackable washer/dryer in the catalogue for several years beyond that. The original rollout seemed pretty comprehensive to all their clustered stores built since they made their mall move in 1960 or so; and entirely omitted the older dry-goods stores (in St. Louis, they had appliances at South County Center built in 1962 but did not have them at Hampton Village, a 1948 (roughly) build dry-goods store. Back in 1981/1982 their major appliance departments were not comprehensive like Sears or Wards, but were more like any other department store (in St. Louis, both Famous-Barr and Stix Baer and Fuller sold major appliances).

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Around the years you'd mentioned JC Penny last selling appliances in the late-'80's, was when I had seen a catalog showing White-Westinghouse there, and mainly stuff like dishwashers & compact washes and dryers standing out...

 

 

 

-- Dave

 

[yogitunes]

surprised JCPenney's lasted this long.....

I got my first credit card from them, and still have it....

Boscov's was always been a store of decorated gaudy glitz, trying to compete with the likes of Macy's.....the pricing of KMart, and quality of a Dollar Store....always having their outside tent sales, for stuff they can't give away...although they do still offer gift wrap and discounts to Military...

 

[DADoES]

 
(deleted, wrong thread)