J.C. Penney’s CEO, Ron Johnson, said its new pricing strategy would remain in place despite hurting sales initially. Johnson, who used to run Apple’s retail stores, says he is treating J.C. Penney like a start-up company.
At a Fortune magazine Brainstorm Tech Conference he said he had the full support of the company’s board of directors when it comes to the new pricing strategy. Same store sales took a massive hit in the first quarter of nearly 19% as the company moves away from hundreds of sales events to everyday lower prices.
Johnson believes that J.C. Penney confused its customers when introducing this new pricing strategy, “Our execution wasn’t what we needed,” he said. “Our pricing is kind of confusing. Our marketing kind of overreached.”
J.C. Penney is also moving forward with using its stores to house different kinds of brands such as Martha Stewart home products.
J.C. Penney’s stock is in need of an overhaul as it has lost 43% of its value so far this year and is currently trading at $19.71 a share.
