J.C. Penney ($JCP) has been putting up a valiant fight to survive the retail apocalypse. CEO Jill Soltau has been trying to focus on apparel over less profitable major appliance sales. She’s apparently testing out a store layout that incorporates yoga studios, gaming lounges, and lifestyle workshops.
JCP even partnered with ThredUp (PRIVATE:$THREDUP) on a secondhand clothing exchange system. But according to today’s earnings, and our alternative data, the company’s efforts aren’t panning out.
JCP’s shares have lost 35% of its value in 2020. They were down 7% this morning. The retailer announced that there will be at least six store closings this year. According to Yahoo, sales at stores open for more than a year fell 7% in the quarter ended earlier this month, slightly below expectations. Revenue fell 7.7% to $3.49 billion, slightly above expectations of $3.44 billion.
Just over the past year, JCP closed 17 of its stores.
The company’s LinkedIn headcount reflects this downsizing. The number went down from 38,900 last December to 34,000 today. That's a 13% decrease.
J.C. Penney might need more than a few yoga mats to turn things around.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.