Sales? No thanks; just make it cheap all the time.
The days of hitting up the sales at Penney’s are over. The company, which has been struggling with the recession, has recently changed CEOs, bringing on Apple Store guru Ron Johnson as the new head man at the mall-based clothing company, and he’s already started making changes. One of his first moves is a bold step: no more sales. That’s right, Penney’s is cutting merchandise prices by up to 40 percent and ending the idea of sales in favor of a three-tier pricing strategy.
Starting on February 1, Penney’s is moving to “Every Day” low prices. They will also have a “Monthly Value” tier of discounts on select merchandise every month and “Best Price” deals–aka clearance sales–on items on the first and third Friday of each month, which is the time when most Americans get paid. I’m sure Black Friday will still be very popular, but Penney’s is cutting back on the estimated 580 sales events it had last year in favor of cutting prices all the time.
They’re also changing the tags, with a color-coding system to indicate prices: red for “Every Day”, white for “Monthly Value”, and blue for “Best Price.” There will also be a big promotional push featuring Ellen DeGeneres, a revamped 96-page color catalogue highlighting the “Monthly Value” of the month, one more super-revolutionary thing. For Penney’s, the days of $19.99 jeans are over. Those jeans will now be $20. That’s right, Penney’s is moving to a new pricing style that eliminates that whole stupid pricing convention. Those $20 jeans are going to be $20 (before taxes).
Tags: penney’s, jc penney’s, ron johnson, penney’s ends sale prices, penney’s cuts merchandise prices by 40 percent, penney’s to end sale prices, penney’s to unveil three-tier pricing strategy, sales, no more sales at penney’s, penney’s moving to flat sales prices, new pricing plan at Penney’s
