Thoughts on J. C. Penney's Strategy

J. C. Penney, jcp, is making a profound change with implications on its business model / customers. As a result the main question becomes: Is jcp going to convert and / or attract “everyday low price customers” at the same rate of losing their “core high-low customers”? Some may make the assumption that jcp's core customer is not “high-low” at heart and the customer just wants a “fair and square” deal. After talking to numerous jcp customers, let alone watching traffic trends at jcp, it seems that jcp's customers were not after “fair and square” deal but after the “thrill” of a deal and after "that" shopping experience in its entirety. Are they going to succeed? I argue that success is possible but it is also going to require changes in merchandise mix, real estate strategy, and operations. Nevertheless, one must commend jcp's willingness to seek a new direction because the old direction was not working and the projection seemed unfavorable.