Consumer Business Review: J.C. Penney Readies Its Makeover DEBUT, Coca-Cola Deals With HIGHER PRICES

Here are Tuesday’s top stories:

J.C. Penney & Co. (NYSE:JCP) announces that it will introduce its new store format on Wednesday, an appropriate time for the crucial back-to-school shopping season. Chief Executive Ron Johnson promises that customers will experience an “entirely new retail experience,” but investors are likely hoping for a break with the company’s shares, which are currently doing more than 35 percent for this year. Meanwhile, Johnson appeared on CNBC to describe the new store concept: ‘Stores will be lean and stylish, replete with iPad integration.”

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Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT) keeps its place atop UBS’ picks of the industry and is set to post its second quarter earnings on Thursday. Analysts are forecasting the fifth consecutive quarter of increasing revenue for the food giant.

The Coca-Cola Company’s (NYSE:KO) Chief Executive Muhtar Kent is playing down the impact that spiking corn prices will deliver on its costs, noting that both sugar and aluminum are significant commodity expenses. Despite the whistling past the graveyard thing, the effects of the historic jump in corn prices can’t be ignored with Coke’s hedging strategies pushed to the maximum. It might be worth noting that, at one time, the company bought so much sugar at once that the commodity’s price rose in reaction and is now the textbook example of the term, monopsony.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) is bringing a number of lawsuits through its Warner Bros. division against Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) resellers who use the Amazon website in order to sell discounted DVDs. The allegations claim that the 2 million users participating in the Amazon Marketplace to sell new and used DVDs violate the distribution rights of Warner Bros.

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