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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Big Fall in J.C. Penney Stock Price Today ... First Quarter Sales Are Showing Big Declines, Too

J.C. Penney's stock price fell by 12.22% to close at $13.93 per share today.

It also appears that the company's sales for the first quarter ending April 30 will be down by approximately 10%.

Times are tough indeed for the retailer.

Penney's First-Quarter Sales Dropped Further says this:

"J.C. Penney Co.'s  sales continued to fall in the company's first quarter, as Chief Executive Ron Johnson failed to correct a disastrous overhaul that ultimately cost him his job.

With about a month left in the department store chain's fiscal first quarter, same-store sales were down more than 10% compared with a year earlier, people familiar with the matter said.

Penney declined to comment on the figures.

The drop followed an even steeper 18.9% decline in the first quarter of last year. Penney's sales began declining sharply after Mr. Johnson rolled out a new strategy for the chain that involved bringing in more brand name gear and dramatically cutting back the heavy discounts and coupons Penney had used to draw shoppers.
The declines worsened through last year, leaving sales in the 12 months to Feb. 2 down $4.3 billion from a year earlier.

Mr. Johnson, who was replaced Monday as CEO by his predecessor, Myron Ullman, had said he aimed to get sales back into positive territory before the end of the year."

Summing Up

For those of you who are interested in learning just how screwed up J.C. Penney is, see also Penney's Sales Slide Wasn't Abating.

It's actually hard to believe that a company in this shape has a future, or that the Board of Directors has been doing its job.

That said, what happens next doesn't look good for anybody connected to J.C. Penney. Even Houdini would have a hard time escaping from this predicament.

That's my take.

Thanks. Bob.



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