JCPenney is in serious trouble. There’s no sugarcoating it.
The department store chain, famous for its Christmas catalogs, is losing money — and customers. It has a lot of debt. And not much cash.
A dismal earnings report on Thursday only reinforced that time is running out. JCPenney reported an adjusted loss of $69 million in the first quarter, even worse than Wall Street was expecting, and lowered its projections for the year. Sales fell 4%, also missing estimates.
Much like floundering rival Sears, JCPenney is struggling to adapt to the changing retail landscape as people increasingly shop on their phones.
Earlier this year, JCPenney announced it will cut 360 jobs at its stores and corporate headquarters. That’s on top of more than 5,000 layoffs in 2017, after JCPenney decided to close nearly 140 stores. It has about 860 left.
JCPenney just can’t keep up with Amazon, which is dominating the digital retail world. Some other traditional retailers, including Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Macy’s, have taken steps to remain competitive — and have been rewarded by investors.
But JCPenney is lagging, and investors are running out of patience.
wtvr.com/2018/05/19/why-jcpenney-is-in-serious-trouble-69-millionfirst-quarter-loss/