First there's this (tip to Instapundit):
Ron Johnson, fired as chief executive officer of J.C. Penney this week, failed not because his vision was necessarily wrong, but because in executing it he forgot the first rule of retailing: To sell people things, you first have to get them into the store.
The frequent sales and coupons Penney's used before Johnson arrived are just one possible way to do that.
Johnson stopped the old method of getting people in the store--frequent sales--before he put the new reasons in place.
I won't get into the new reasons because they don't apply to me. I'm a man--and not a man who tends toward metrosexual style appreciation even a bit. And it isn't age. I've always been this way. I just didn't have the time to really demonstrate this. I recently retired a pair of hiking boots that I bought freshman year in college. I still have a suitcase that my sister got me for a graduation present--from high school. I still have a shirt she gave me before that; and I still use a Levi jacket on occasion that I received as a gift in the late 1980s. Hey, it still fits. I use a key chain I got in 1981 (It's a Bradley Fighting Vehicle coin--a friend interned with them). If I need something, I buy it. But otherwise I just don't think of replacing perfectly good things.
Good God, people. My son is relieved that I'm finally reaching the end of a huge box of accordian-style pin-fed printer paper! He's hoping to have the experience of using modern printer paper that he doesn't have to separate from other sheets and the pin-feed edges before he goes off to college. Rather than steal paper from work, I just used this. I had a lot of it, probably purchased some time in the 1990s. Heck, I'm looking forward to new paper. In the fullness of time, of course. Lamb will surely enjoy years of printing ease. I feel she'll miss something by not having that experience. Shoot, I had to explain how a rotary dial phone worked when she noticed one being used in the movie Clue, which she is now watching over and over again on Netflix. At least Leslie Anne Warren is looking good in that movie. But Lamb was born in the 21st century, so what do I expect?
Anyway.
My point is that JC Penney got me to buy things fairly often (well, for me--not for those who enjoy shopping) because all those sales announcements that arrived in the mail reminded me of their existence and let me know that some of their new things were on sale. When I saw those, I'd think, I do believe I could use some new X to replace (or supplement) the old X I have.
JC Penney stopped doing that. And their tables of blue jeans with staff prepared to talk about blue jeans with me were a waste of time. I know my size and the kind I want, and only the price point matters. Same with other stuff. I dont' care how many times they rotate their towel stock for new colors, I just won't pay everyday low prices to replace perfectly good towels.
So I noticed I didn't go there much when they changed strategies. They are free to want a demographic of people more likely to just spend for new stuff because it is new to them, so I don't begrudge them that. They are convenient and I will still go there when I finally notice I need something. But the new strategy hasn't drawn in enough new people, it seems.
We'll see if they find ways to prod me into visiting their store again. I hope so. I like having them around when I realize I need something.
