JCPENNY 1981

[cyclemonitor]

next

 

[cyclemonitor]

next

 

[cyclemonitor]

next

 

[cyclemonitor]

next

 

[cyclemonitor]

next

 

[cyclemonitor]

Does anyone know when JCP stopped selling appliances?

 

[roto204]

Two years later

1983 was the last year for hard lines at Penneys; I remember as a kid our store gaining about a fifth of its sales floor as empty space, where there had been appliances and such before; I also remember when Penneys had a garden center. 

 

From Funding Universe:

 

In 1983 JCPenney announced a $1 billion program to give its stores facelifts and rearrange merchandise. Apparel, home furnishings, and leisure lines would be emphasized, and auto service, hard line appliances, paint, hardware, lawn and garden merchandise, and fabrics were phased out. Its big mass merchant competitors, Montgomery Ward and Sears, continued in these lines. Retail analysts who followed JCPenney called the company's decision difficult but necessary. These lines provided $1.5 billion in annual sales, but were keeping the company from positioning itself as a true department store. In addition, low-margin goods were preventing the company from making its profit potential.

 

[gansky1]

I have a faint memory of a JCP solid tub washer in our neighborhood at a garage sale but the perf-tubs were what I remember most.  Their styling and fonts were somehow just a bit softer and more pleasing than their Hotpoint lineage. I always wished, and still do, that they had included appliances in their catalogs.   When they discontinued appliances at our stores, I recall seeing the end of the stragglers, tagged for clearance in what remained of the department.