While third-quarter sales at J.C. Penney dropped 26.6%, CEO Ron Johnson said he continues to have confidence in the company’s long terms business model.
“J.C. Penney is really a tale of two companies,” Johnson said in a statement, “By far the largest part of our store is the old J.C. Penney, which continues to struggle and experience significant challenges as evidenced by our third quarter results.”
There has been a steady decline in sales at J.C. Penney this year. Total sales in the first quarter dropped 20.1% and 22.6% in the second.
Since taking the helm at J.C. Penney, Johnson has watched the retailer struggle by offering confusing pricing plans, the loss of a president, and several layoffs. J.C. Penney’s third quarter ended on October 27 and according a statement, reported a net loss of $123 million or $0.56 per share.
Even with struggling sales, Johnson said he believes that the new J.C. Penney shop concept “is gaining traction with customers every day and is surpassing our own expectations in terms of sales productivity which continues to give us confidence in our long term business model.”
According to an article in the LA Times, Johnson has been pushing the shop-in-shop strategy to bring 100 such mini-boutiques into J.C. Penney that carry popular brands such as Walt Disney Co. and Martha Stewart to compete with its rivals.