Suzanne O’Connor’s Bargains LA

The New JC Penny

A breath of fresh air was pumped into the retail markets this last week with JC Penny’s launch of their new logo and marketing. The new branding of JC Penny is good news for savvy bargain shoppers.  Gone are the fake sales, over inflated retail pricing and other manipulative B**ll Sh*t.

As a consumer, you have to ask yourself how they can afford to lower their prices across the board by 40% ? Have their costs gone down? Did their overhead expenses suddenly drop… .Nope. They’ve just decided to end the “ sale” farce. Their minimal profit margin is intact.

On average, department stores mark up 150%-300%.  The mark up range depends upon actual unit cost of the product and the price point they think they can offer it for. In the middle of this equation is the reality of what the product will actually sell for … that’s usually between 20% off and 50% off MSRP.

Remember MSRP is just an offering price point. It doesn’t mean anybody bought it at that price or it’s worth that price. MSRP is really just a marketing tool.

Keep in mind that JC Penny and others large chain department stores are large volume buyers. Their per unit purchase price on the thousands of pieces they buy is far less than a independent boutique that can only buy a few dozen pieces.

JC Penny, now JCP is finally being straight with customers. I’m eager to stop in to see the new marketing and strategy works, feels and looks. I’m hoping to see new, better quality brands along with the lower pricing.

We’ll see how this plays out. But as of right now, I’m impressed by their bold move.