No More Appliances At JC Penney
Big changes are coming to J.C. Penney (JCP) as the retailer announced it would be eliminating its appliance business.
This is an about-face for the struggling retailer that brought back appliances in 2016 after a long hiatus. Adding appliances was the decision of former CEO Marvin Ellison as a way to compete against Sears that was struggling for market share in the appliance arena, CNBC reported.
J.C. Penney said in a blog post that it will stop selling major appliances in stores on Feb 28 as a way “to better meet customer expectations, improve financial performance and drive profitable growth."
Appliances are not the only products that J.C. Penney is giving up on as the company said that it will soon only sell furniture online as well. Select stores in Puerto Rico will continue to sell furniture though.
Under the leadership of current CEO Jill Soltau, J.C. Penney will focus on its “legacy” product categories which include apparel and home furnishings such as curtains and bedding. According to the company, this will provide “higher margin opportunities.”
Recently, J.C. Penney has been struggling with too much inventory that it has had to discount in order to bring in new styles, CNBC reported. This has caused issues for the retailer to maintain profit margins across its more than 800 locations in the U.S.
For customers that purchase major appliances from the retailer through Feb. 28, J.C. Penney will provide free basic delivery and installation on new models over $299. All protection plans and manufacturer warranties will be honored throughout the warranty period.
More information about J.C. Penney’s decision to get out of the appliance business will be provided during its earnings report on Feb 28. At the same time, J.C. Penney will provide information on its spring store closures that were announced earlier this year.
Shares of J.C. Penney were down 2.22 percent as of 3:08 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
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