JCP Executives: We Messed Up

In 2012, the first year of Chief Executive Ron Johnson’s turnaround plan, customers left J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) in huge numbers — a mass exodus evidenced by the company’s $4.3 billion dollar sales loss, which was reported in mid-February.

Johnson envisioned a company that could offer everyday low prices and boost its offerings with a wide range of small boutiques from designers like Levi’s or Sephora. His eventual plan was to turn most of the chain’s stores into a cluster of approximately 100 boutiques. But his attempt to revitalize the chain and transform the business has not happened. The executive’s change of the company’s pricing structure — which eliminated coupons and massive sales in favor of “everyday-low prices” — drove customers away instead of drawing them in.

Comments made recently by executives at J.C. Penney have suggested that the retailer is reversing its position to some degree by reinstating its private labels — like St. John’s Bay — and reviving promotions…