Anne Howe

Penney CEO Brings 'Reality Distortion Field' From Apple

January 26, 2012

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Current J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson must have spent a lot of time with Steve Jobs when he was at Apple because it appears as though he too has the power to create a "reality distortion field." What do you think is the most exciting aspect of the plan to turn J.C. Penney around?      [more...]

I like the philosophy. But the phrase "a store for all Americans" feels off to me. It implies that Americans are a homogenous group. Nothing could be further from the truth. It appears the merchandising concept will offer choices, but the marketing concept could use a tweak to recognize and celebrate the differences of both the shoppers and the merchandising that will hopefully suit them better.

The services offerings, priced right, could easily give shoppers more solutions. The watch out is that over thirty years, shoppers have abandoned many of the same services classic department stores used to offer. I hope they did some shopper homework to determine if that kind of investment might pay out.