Bankrupt - JCPenney

With over 1,500 stores across the country and over 200,000 employees, the J.C. Penney Company was a mega retailer in the United States. It grew from humble beginnings with its founder James Penney and grew into an iconic retail institution in America. However those golden years only lasted until the early 2000's, when the retailer experienced a violent downturn until its eventual bankruptcy in 2020. Join me as I find out how this company went from billions to nothing.
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BrightSunFilms 2022
Presented in 4K

[@Y0uTuben]

Much like Sears, nobody wants to shop at a store that doesn’t keep the store clean and organized, and that has a poor selection of low quality items. I feel like Target is the only store that continues to make a valid attempt to stay relevant.

[@jeffbruce3588]

Yea your Target. Mine looks like red Walmart.

[@rahimi4762]

Hey every JCP I go to is clean, nicely stocked and full of ppl

[@Budgettechbro]

Kohls is great too

[@MyDreamIsAStory]

Our Wal-Marts try to stay relevant. But then again I live in Arkansas. They totally redid the one I go to. They even have displays now.

[@dancooper6002]

Wrong. You have the story COMPLETELY BACKWARDS. "nobody wants to shop at a store that doesn’t keep the store clean and organized, and that has a poor selection of low quality items" this is EXACTLY where everyone shops, its called Walmart/Target. They are called discounters for a reason, because they are down market of department stores like JC Penny. JC Penny and Sears were middle class retailers, not discounters. They were upmarket from Walmart/Target. The decline of Sears and JCPenny was the result of the decline of the middle class who could afford to shop there. Everything became a race to the bottom including wages. Walmart/Target became the dominant retailers by selling lower quality imported goods, paying minimum wage with no benefits to part time employees, and cutting every corner they could. What people don't realize is Sears/JCPenny etc. were middle class department stores that for most of their history paid good wages with good benefits to employees that could actually have a career in retail. The sold American made products to the large middle class. When the middle class began to disappear, so did the retailers that served it. They were replaced by poverty retailers, discounters like Walmart, and eventually dollar stores that were even further downmarket. Don't for a minute believe this crap about JCPenny having poor quality merchandise or stores.

[@cassandrahuete5973]

I worked at JCPenneys in 2010. When I heard they were getting rid of coupons and restructuring prices I knew it would be a mistake. I remember that most of our shoppers used coupons and would hurry into the store to use the coupon. If only the big execs asked their cashiers first.

[@cubswin6779]

Sounds like Schwan's. The summer catalog this year is the last one they are going to print. Do they ask us drivers? Nope. That is not the way to save money. Most of my buyers want a catalog to look at and if the pricing is off due to inflation, they don't care. They just want to flip through and look at the pictures without having to go online to do it. I have many 70+ year old customers.

[@thejohnbeck]

@@cubswin6779 catalogs are way more fun than flipping through webpages

[@mariaparks3494]

Most of these companies would do better if they spoke to their employees. They all think they are too superior.

[@bunzymay]

One of my first jobs out of highschool...I was there between 2003-2007ish. I can tell you that those coupon sales were what customers LIVED for. The "sweet sale" during Feb. with the little candy bars and a coupon on them were as annoying as they were fun. The glory days, right?

[@miguelcastaneda7257]

Yup same the junk mail we uses to receive at home no longer get alot of us base our shopping on those make a circle ...grocery.. variety stores... quick treat stop and home

[@snausages43]

I never was a big fan of JCPenney, but seeing stores that have been around all your life go under is still sad.

[@Jeremyho439]

I bought my first down vest from JC. Best I have ever had. I still have it. Best durable outside material compared with my other high price cheap NorthFace.

[@SeaThePotato]

Agreed especially the malls you’ve spent your childhood in

[@rogersmith7396]

They were OK with work clothes and maybe tennis shoes but their better stuff was cheap and cut for skinny people only. It eventually became a ghetto place.

[@billykidman2091]

Maybe for you, I personally love seeing these monuments to American extravagance and ignorace collapse under their own incompetence one after another

[@MikeJAk49]

As a kid in the 90's I hated it,but now I understand for a parent trying to save a buck it's a great choose.

[@hiflyer000]

My mom worked at JCPenney for about a dozen years in the 80's and 90's and she loved it. She worked commission in the Home department, mainly selling curtains and drapes, and made very good money. They eventually took them off of commission and got rid of them one by one, replacing them with minimum wage workers who didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

[@Wakapalypze]

That’s why people stop going to these places, cause they managed to get rid of the the talent that kept them busy.

[@CoCo-yv3hl]

Same for one of my aunts she worked for about 25 years as a sales person on commission. Now they employ kids for $10 hr if anyone at all per department/area

[@rogersmith7396]

I sold so much stuff at Wards home improvement the commissioned people got hot. I was big with water heaters.

[@angelica3744]

it's not that minimum wage workers are incompetent--it's that hardly anyone in their right mind will put in blood, sweat, and tears into a job that pays so little. You pay minimum wage, expect minimum labor. Meanwhile, the greedy CEOs will continue giving themselves massive bonuses while pitting the working class against each other.

[@WouldntULikeToKnow.]

​@@angelica3744100% correct. I'm not going to stress over making someone else money.

[@timerbunneh]

I LOL'd at "James Cash Penney" because MAN that's such a befitting name for the founder of such a giant chain.

[@evynmartin2679]

first he had cash, now he only has pennies (if he was still alive)

[@Wolf_90702]

Sears, JcPenney, ToysRus, Babbages, Funcoland, made the winter holidays so much fun as a kid. So many brochures to look at in the Sunday newspaper and circling all the stuff I was interested in. Kids these days don't get to experience how magical it was in these stores all strung up an decorated for Xmas and all the deals going on. Online shopping is convenient but in person shopping was an experience you only get once and will remember forever.

[@PhantomMaul]

It's kinda sad to me that Walmart and Amazon have the only two toy books now

[@jaystew730]

The internet killed a lot that used to be fun

[@seanwilliams7655]

@@PhantomMaul Target has one as well. So that's three lol

[@PhantomMaul]

@@seanwilliams7655 ahh I didn't get the target one in my area!

[@michaelstephens360]

Ah yes the that magical phone book sized catalog with the enchanting Christmas picture with all the merry goodies therein as we sat on the floor with our sharpie

[@bentelbow2922]

Back when malls were popular, one could roam the entire place looking for something, and only JCPenney would have it.

[@ellenw391]

The loss of brick & mortar stores is so depressing. I did some Black Friday/CyberMonday shopping all online. Easy although I wasted so much time debating items and still have some stuff in various carts. Stopped at TJMaxx earlier this week, left exhausted but with 4 shopping bags and found stuff I would never have thought of for gifts, cosmetics that come in economical gift kits for me and gifts, a sweater as a gift (that I spent HOURS looking for online, but nothing looked nice) and tons more. I ran out of steam before I finished the store. It had been the 1st real store I had been in for MANY months (excluding Aldi's etc), and it hit me how much I missed in person shopping!!!

[@hiflyer000]

I'm a huge introvert and generally don't like to leave the house, but ironically enough I hate shopping online and much prefer to go to physical stores instead. I don't know, I was a huge mall rat growing up in the 90's and had lots of great experiences then so maybe it's just a nostalgia thing. I still like going to malls and walking around despite how depressing they all are now. Also I've been burned so many times with online purchases being nothing like they were advertised that I prefer to look, feel, or try on things I buy.

[@jessica23claire]

As much as I love the convenience of online shopping, I still love a brick and mortar store. I like feeling the textures of things and seeing their size in person. There’s always a risk that comes with online shopping for clothing, whereas in store you can just try it on. I guess it’s partly because I’m a big thrifter. I’m also impatient and I hate waiting for things to come in the mail 😂

[@cipherquest3024]

Yeah I got myself an adorable small purse at my TJ Maxx for events like the fair. My mall has become more dangerous over the years but i still go every black Friday

[@tayzonday]

When The Land Before Time came out in 1988, I was age six and purchased a gigantic Littlefoot stuffed animal from JCPenney that I slept with for years.

[@ldyer7643]

yooooo! Tay! Da KZbin legend!!!!

[@jgueroz71]

JCPenney and Sears were my childhood stores growing up. The world we grew up in no longer exists…

[@Sandi-ke9mi]

It sure doesn’t. 😞

[@Rambam1776]

Thank God it doesn't. Remember all the comedians who used to tell routines about dying of boredom in those malls? About moms beating the shit out of their kids for misbehaving in those malls? You've just described the entirety of the 1970s and 1980s for me. The second it became possible to buy things online I stopped going anywhere but the grocery store and the gas station. Shopping fucking sucks

[@connorbowen8867]

@@Rambam1776 ok

[@trey4747]

@@Diana-yn2ho they may just share the name and nothing else but Woolworths is one of the two main grocery store chains in Australia

[@user-wi4cs8sg8q]

@@Rambam1776 your life sounds very depressing.

[@joycedegolier2375]

I worked for JCP for 26yrs. It was a good company for many years but then it started to change. They made promises to long time associates that they didn’t keep and changed policies without consideration/ loyalty toward their employees. They got rid of in store merchandisers, for corporate buyers less in-tuned on local trends. They got rid of higher paid / knowledgeable employees for minimum wage teenagers. They paid regular associates to become “managers” for an extra $1. hr. They got what they paid for.

[@lampini]

in my experience promoting associates to managers like that translates to "we're going to give you more work but not reflect that with a high enough pay raise."

[@ExtremeSal]

So sad to see JCPenney fade out. Along with Kmart, both department stores were such a big part of my childhood and it's kinda bittersweet to think that we are living in a time now where these two retailers aren't in the limelight. Luckily my childhood JCPenney is still open and honestly seems to receive a good amount of business to this day but Kmart has been gone for a few months now which sucks.

[@Americanpatriot-zo2tk]

Well, I worked at the largest Kmart in the United States of America here in Louisville Kentucky and the store got to where it was filthy things were not put up properly poor customer service just a very dirty discussing disorganized store Kmart shot themselves right in the foot.

[@erossinema8797]

I don't feel sad, because it was the inevitable. America has, or had too much shopping space. All that retail space was the result of population growth, and 1950s economy boom. People shop differently now, and don't shop as much. I'm sure the internet has changed a lot of habits, however other things factor. This shift started in 1987 when a bunch of those American stores went out of business (Buffums, Bullocks, Broadway, Judy's, Jay Jacobs)

[@kaylove4507]

Ohio?

[@Americanpatriot-zo2tk]

@@kaylove4507 Ohio!!!

[@pauldavidartistclub6723]

Kmart was one of the problems, not solutions, to the decline of what had been the great American shopping experience, whether in urban cities,, or the later (unfortunate) suburban crawl.

[@markcampbell369]

I’m 56, and remember when shopping JCP at the mall was a fun event in the 70’s/80’s. My hometown mall, with anchors Sears and JCP, is now just an empty blight. Getting the annual Christmas catalogs from Sears and JCP was kiddie heaven!

[@maggieglover5204]

My younger brother and I used to sit for hours circling all the stuff in the catalog that we hoped to get for Christmas. Good times

[@midgie1166]

LOVED the catalogs!

[@243wayne1]

@Boco Corwin It got *CANCELLED.* Lol.

[@jettp3810]

The Sears wish book was a Gen Xer’s dream book.

[@midgie1166]

@@jettp3810 My favorite section was the wedding dresses.😁

[@mattmayo3539]

“Top executives received payouts of $10M” We know where this is going.

[@mandymoore5774]

They kinda brought this upon themselves!

[@starmnsixty1209]

That's for sure.

[@HkLY45]

The game of business is to take money, and put it somewhere it can't be touched. The banks print the money from thin air. It isn't real. The company goes bankrupt. PE and bankers come in to restructure the debt and assets and find profits in a different form. This is it. This is our economy. It is a giant Ponzi. Learn the lesson instead of pointing the finger. If you stay poor in the fake casino that's on you.

[@mathisnotforthefaintofheart]

Same with TWA at the time.

[@juiceweasel1617]

Rob the tills on the way out the door.

[@jwhitevlogs3596]

I recently turned 19. I never really got to know what shopping in a massive mall really was like, because online shopping took off around that time as well. I feel like the internet is really destroying the way we as people shop, form relationships with others and even work. It has been proven to be beneficial in many ways, but I feel like it’s also brought a lot of negatives along with it.

[@garrettc9456]

I'm 31. Millennials are a very nostalgic generation in general. Your comment got me thinking and I'm going research why this is. I wouldn't lament that you don't have the memories of a previous generation. You can see all these comments about missing this era, yet the retail stores are still in decline. Clearly people aren't so nostalgic that they are going out visiting these places. I'm sure you have your own memories of your time that you will look back fondly on. I feel social media especially has had a negative impact on human interaction. All I can say is, make the technology work for you, not the other way around.

[@pokehybridtrainer]

You can find a good number of malls in the east coast that still gets crowds. It's something else to window shop and see an impulse by on sale in comparison to going online to a website due to a promo email. Even solo, a mall with some life in it is something else. Guess I still miss that about New York even though I moved away years ago.

[@BrandyTexas214]

We used to go to malls just to hang out.. it was great 😊 you can still find popular and busy malls where I live but it’s not the same

[@gigachad6162]

malls were never made to be sustainable in the first place…

[@elagabalusrex390]

Everything and anything that makes doing things more convenient does. That's the tradeoff of the internet - no inconveniences, no lines, no annoying human interaction...and no life. Everything has a price.

[@teresah.6696]

It's so sad to see JCPenney and Sears decline. I miss the Xmas Wishbook catalogs in the mid '70's thru early '80's. we got them in the mail every year.

[@jumboslice1514]

The Pennys catalog was many young boys way to get their thrills.

[@steelerj2000]

Is it that sad?

[@williamwilkins3084]

If you're talking about the same way I got mine from those, I know exactly whay you mean.

[@mst7806]

It’s always a good idea to reward your CEO with millions of dollars for doing a terrible job.

[@patgalvez4563]

ONE HAND WASHES THE OTHER

[@helenm6732]

CEOs that think they know BEST. Never polling, engaging or fairly compensating sales people who ACTUALLY know what sells, what customers want and how to sell it to them - all the things you DON’T learn in the executive suite.

[@timopint1125]

you have to spent the cash before the public or creditors can grab it.

[@copasetic216]

I bet you would have done such a better job at saving a company that was rotting from the inside out. Easy to sit there and say that on a KZbin video. If you were that CEO in that position, would you turn down that money? None of you would. If you say you would, you’re lying to yourself.

[@mst7806]

@@copasetic216 okay you’re welcome to your opinion. Now go back to your mom’s basement and continue sewing a bodysuit with human skin…

[@tombuck]

I just walked by the JCP in my childhood mall the other day and panicked when I thought it had closed. I was relieved to see it was still open…and then I proceeded to not go inside or buy anything. Also, “James Cash Penney” is officially the coolest name I’ve ever heard.

[@oldguy3378]

They tore down the entire mall near where I grew up - Eastland Mall, Charlotte. It is still just a hole in the ground.

[@brutalictesku]

I can image a rapper naming their kid James Cash Penney nowadays, lol.

[@nitehawk86]

"Nominative Determinism" He was destined to open up a store.

[@nitehawk86]

Also, he could have told us that "James Cash Penney" was a made up character like "Charles Entertainment Cheese"

[@surlyGir]

For whatever reason when I was in high school we were taught that he got his name because his family was poor and they wanted to change that.

[@Westlander857_FKA_Zephyr]

I went to JCP to get an outfit for a company holiday party a couple weeks back, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The store had a huge selection, was well stocked with clothes that people in the 21st century would actually want to wear, and they had some excellent deals. They even a had a great selection of team USA World Cup gear at very reasonable prices, so I left the store with way more than I thought I would. I think JCP is absolutely moving in the right direction, but they need to act and adapt fast if they want to have a successful future.

[@sarahdiehl2672]

Agreed! The one at my local mall is where I usually park because it’s a good location. But they do actually have some cute stuff, they’re just now overpriced in my opinion.

[@tebec3624]

I was a Sales Associate (i.e. cashier) at JCP during the “no coupon” phase. While I had a positive work experience, I can tell you that customers were FURIOUS that the coupons were taken away. You are absolutely right about the outdated, bland style of the stores and the lack of a target customer. Adding Sephora was a good move but the clothing still needs work. I have faith that the store will hang on because it’s a survivor. With the right CEO and revamp plan it could even give some luxury stores a run for their money! Good Luck JCP- I’m rooting for you!!

[@SelecaoOfMidas]

Heard the same thing from a neighbor that worked at one of two stores in Baton Rouge. Came down to that CEO changing tactics based on what worked when he was at, surprisingly, Target. No coupons, just sell products at the price the company paid for them per item. Fast forward some years where I hear of the concept that led to many of the regular customers flipping out due to the coupons making it "feel" like they were getting a deal, but just getting some or all of the markup price removed by the discount rate, inducing psychological reactance with the policy change. Pretty interesting, and yet disturbing.

[@MesmerEyes2]

I worked for Sears in the field and then at the corporate office and JC Penney at the corporate office. I lived the declines at both. Neither reacted quickly enough to the changing retail landscape. Activist investors were a kiss of death. I watched while key programs that had good sales volume and great margins get ditched because they didn't speak to the "younger" customer. They wanted to attract the younger customer without ever truly looking at the life cycle of shoppers. People didn't shop department stores until they were setting up a household and starting a family. Bring in all the brands you want but if younger shoppers don't have the money or the need to shop at a department store, they won't. The JCPenney corporate office in Plano had approx. 6000 employees. I survived the layoff of 3000 of those employees in one day. The field had even more people laid off. One of the saddest days of my career. To this day, I don't know who was luckier....the folks that went home or those of us left behind to continue doing the additional work of 3000 people on top of our own work. I am proud that I worked for two retail leaders prior to their demise. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Retail will never be the same.

[@zeroelus]

Different country and business but went through a company getting bought out and then living through seeing it's corpse gutted and the part where you state "I don't know who was luckier....the folks that went home or those of us left behind" rings so true in my experience as well. Anytime there where layoffs of old staff, I always got survivors guilt; Ended up looking for something better and quitting.

[@davidmeeker7481]

My mother worked for and stayed loyal to the Kmart brand for 40 years. Despite the decline and economic woes she always felt they would stage a comeback. All corporate propaganda to keep good workers as the newer generations didn't perform.

[@Saxxin1]

Maybe you were what did it. Ever think of that? Damn. all those families who lost their income. How do you sleep at night? LOL. Just kidding.

[@mysmirandam.6618]

I saw the declines as well when worked at Macy's and sears I made so much money in sales commission at both

[@icydsting6037]

I always find it sad but also amazing that these once great stores have either gone or become next to nothing. The amazing part is that they all shouldn't be, Seares, JCPenny, even stores like Blockbuster all took too long to adapt to the internet thinking and also wanting people to come out instead, so the internet was a second thought, and by the time they realised it they already lost.

[@TheEDFLegacy]

I remember growing up seeing the JCPenney brand. It's remarkable how many brands I grew up with are no longer around today.

[@maxdevos3201]

The impact of the 2008 liquidity crisis cannot be overstated.

[@butterboiii9810]

They are still around

[@JC-cm9bn]

On the bright side you still have ChinaMart 😆

[@globalcoverage5787]

Now, JCPenney has more stores than Macy’s

[@dancooper6002]

Usually the story of how these retailers went bankrupt/failed is wrong, so let me set the record straight. JC Penny, and other stores like it, such as Sears, Herberger's, Bon Ton, etc. were middle class retailers. Their target market was the middle class, they sold reasonably priced, mostly American made goods to middle class consumers. Their employees actually earned a middle class living with some decent benefits. And the goods they sold created many more middle class jobs in manufacturing. However, once American manufacturing began to decline, and the middle class with it, these stores were on borrowed time. As the middle class shrank, so did the market that stores like JC Penny targeted. As most of the middle class became poorer, they shifted to shopping at "discounter" stores, like Kmart, Walmart, Target, etc. Those stores were part of a "race to the bottom" that focused on cutting price by any means possible. This meant replacing quality American products with very low quality imported goods. It meant replacing middle class jobs with minimum wage, no benefit, dead end jobs that were only a gateway to more poverty. Over time, we have seen how this killed off the middle class retailers, the department stores, and left us with ultra-luxury and discounters as our only retailing options. Often, people will say things like "the store was unkept the last time I was there" or "they were overpriced and that is why they failed." The problem with this is that it only looks at the immediate symptoms, not the root cause. The process of decline happens over many years, usually decades, so people rarely understand what the cause was. To close with an analogy, if you see a cancer patient on their deathbed, you may say they have lost weight, or their hair, or even that they "have cancer", but those are symptoms, not the cause. The cause was the cigarettes they were smoking 40 years ago.

[@astro143_]

I was in a Macys this year that felt very worn down. It felt dirty, the racks of clothing were not organized and just piled up, racks of clothing marked clearance in the middle of walkways. It was quite different than some other Macys I go to, which was surprising because this was in a very high end mall. It's interesting and a bit frustrating to see how the pandemic has crippled the commercial market in general. Stores and restaurants are all short staffed, and places with staff are majority new hires who are still learning.

[@nunyabusiness3786]

You can't really blame the employees though. Teenagers have no choice but to spend most of their time preparing for college if they want a chance. College students can't fail classes or the debt will cripple them. They don't have time to waste on jobs paying a low wage when they have to prepare for their future. The adults that made up the backbone of the workforce that staffed these stores and restaraunts have had no choice but to move up to better more difficult to get jobs. They need the higher pay to provide for their families. Unless working wages drastically improve and people somehow become wealthier to pay for it all of these businesses that depended on entry level workers will cease to be. Maybe we'll be better off for it.

[@alanaadams7440]

Last Christmas I went to Macy's their stock was of poor quality like they bought goods from Goodwill

[@nunyabusiness3786]

@@alanaadams7440 If you visit Goodwill I'm sure you'll find the same prices. Even Macy's can't sell you things you can't afford.

[@lorddrayvon1426]

I feel like there's one major aspect of shopping center deaths that isn't talked about much. We talk about the internet and Walmart a lot because both are more convenient and cheaply priced than mall's but we don't talk about a byproduct that's also become a deciding factor in this. As a result of declining foot traffic, major stores that used to be draws and\or anchor tenants have either gone bankrupt like Bon Ton or moved out of them into standalone locations like Kohl's or Auntie Ann's. If people's favourite stores or eateries are moving out to thier own locations or are completely dead, they have no reason to visit. It's gone from a by-product of the decline to a cause when you think about it.

[@rusefoxghost]

I never really realized how bad a state this store was in. My local JCPenney is an anchor in a very alive mall, and it still gets quite a bit of people in it. I like it myself cause the clothes are cheaper than many other stores in that mall (it’s in a higher class area, and the other anchor stores are Macys and Nordstrom let alone the more expensive smaller stores). But it’s definitely not perfect. They are very understaffed, and the checkouts take forever. I’m really hoping they don’t close it any time soon, losing the Sears wasn’t too bad but losing this store is just gonna be disappointing.

[@ILikesKarz]

i also still have one. sounds a lot like how you described it

[@Kai_ivanthenoob]

I use to have a JCPenney close to me but it closed but there’s one at my local mall that still has customers but like you said there clothing are cheap and that mean long lines at checkouts but I don’t really care.

[@youraftermyrobotbee]

Two of the anchor stores in my nearest big mall have gone kaput, but somehow the JCP is still standing. Beats the tar out of me how or why.

[@Gadzooki]

I worked for JCP in the late 90s keeping inventory, it was like a weird ghost town of hidden stock rooms and the occasional human. Most days there was more mannequins than warm bodies, and I swear those things reached sentience. It was the weirdest job I ever had.

[@thomasthumim7630]

Tell us more

[@ronvosick8253]

The Twilight Zone.

[@Donnerjkks]

On the internet no one knows you are a mannequin irl

[@Gadzooki]

@@thomasthumim7630 all I know is that they would just end up in weird spots overnight. This is pre security footage era(and if we had cams it was just for registers and entrances) we figured it was overnight security playing with us,but idk man, they swore they were too stoned to care. those things freaked me out hard. I swear they were alive.

[@thomasthumim7630]

@@Gadzooki you think that is weird? Just imagine seeing imprints of horror story character on your walls I am talking about characters from resident evil 3 (nemesis) World of Warcraft (movie) Etc

[@superiorbean7932]

It’s truly a sight to see After 10 years of KZbin Jake is still going strong and better than ever with this series, I hope he will continue to thrive, because I truly love these videos👍

[@BrightSunFilms]

Thanks so much!

[@snoozeflu]

I'm counting the days until he makes this same video about Best Buy. Tick, tock.

[@mrnonameyt]

Yes

[@JamesEustice111]

Yea your videos are amazing

[@jabmaster1000]

Thanks Brian Griffon, the dog voiced by Seth Mcfarline from Seth Mcfarline Fox animated adult comedy show, Family Guy that has gone on from January 31st 1999 to present day

[@a.walters123]

I never thought I’d sit through a documentary about the history and financial changes of a retail store, and I don’t know how I just did, but I do know that I *just did* and that shows what a phenomenal content creator you are. Well done. Very well done.

[@GrAYvTrAnE]

My wife and I are committed to shop minimally online this Christmas season and going forward. This year when we went to Macy's my daughters face lit up when she saw the store all decorated and the cosmetics and perfume displays it was pure joy. Its one thing to look at pictures on a computer of something, it hits different when you see it in person.

[@brucekalter4206]

Last week, I went into my local JC Penney store to pick up some stuff I'd ordered online. I didn't even know their store was still open! The place was super clean, well organized, & staff was friendly. These are NOT typical these days for dept stores! I decided to walk around the store a bit after I picked up my order & found that they still sell bedding & had a huge display of beds there. Long story short, I ended up buying a really nice new bed there at a VERY competitive price from an EXTREMELY friendly, helpful & knowledgeable salesperson; she was great. Anyway, overall, I would just give kudos to them for trying and I do hope that the new owners can make this store work... it was the chain that my brothers & I got our clothes from as a kid back in the 1960's!

[@stephen3164]

Shoot, I want to say my jcp had (has?) a furniture floor... 3rd floor? You take the escalator up, and there were sofas and mattresses and 2 employees - and nothing else. No noise. Just weird - and this was years ago! Great if you needed to ever use the bathroom at the mall - you had it to yourself!

[@MrRezillo]

I also got my clothes from Penney's as a kid, and I continued to buy my clothes there as an adult. The employees have always been extra friendly there. The last time I was in a Penney's I walked around the store, feeling kind of sad that there weren't many shoppers there. I feel more sad about Penney's than about any other store, and I hope they can bounce back.

[@lisasargent2841]

I hate on line shopping. I want to be able to ACTUALLY SEE & ACTUALLY TRY ON THE CLOTHES I LIKE. JC PENNYS WAS & IS A GREAT STORE FOR SHOPPERS WHO STILL WANT TO PHYSICALLY WALK INTO A STORE TO BUY MY GOODS.

[@peterjszerszen]

@@stephen3164 Yeah mine has the furniture in the basement.

[@guysumpthin2974]

The Best thing pennys did have was low priced sports jerseys and low priced windows treatments , but then the advertising got weird

[@braysfinds7479]

The JCPenny's near me is actually always decently busy. It came as a shock when I heard how much they're currently struggling.

[@gordontaylor2815]

I believe (and this is also true for Macy's) that there are still a couple hundred stores in the chain that can at least cover their own operating costs. Despite what Jake seems to imply with his ending statement, I don't think JCPenney's is "dead man walking" in the same way Sears and KMart are. Not yet, anyways.

[@KelpyG.]

My area’s mall macys and jcp are still going but the sears got shut down

[@carsausage]

Same here. Although I think what really helps the case of my local Penney's is that the mall itself doubles as a regional hub for public transportation, which is able to draw people in due to its convenient location relative to their bus.

[@davis6123]

JCPenney has a couple hundred stores that make money, and they maybe have

[@DS-ky9dl]

@@KelpyG. Same at my mall.

[@DaddyDuckTown]

I'm 22 years old. J.C. Penney was a huge part of my childhood. I would shop there with my grandparents and mom a lot. I would always buy my Nike shoes from there for high school as well as their Arizona and St. John's bay shirts and shorts. I don't have a personal attachment to other department stores like Sears and Dillard's, but J.C. Penney was just different.

[@Susie_Floozie]

My British mother loved shopping at Penney's. Our house was full of Towncraft products, and I remember dawdling for hours in the Penney's store in Wichita. She enjoyed shopping in this American chainstore so much that she actually sent a fan letter to J.C. Penney to thank him for consistently providing so much of what our family needed at a good value. In return, Penney himself sent her a signed copy of his autobiography, VIEW FROM THE NINTH DECADE. That book sat in a place of honor in the living room credenza. For years, I thought Mom was J.C.'s personal chum.

[@sararobinson6571]

I absolutely love this story!

[@trashyspeeds266]

You know its bad when even JC penney goes under

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

Times change...

[@robertof.s.7491]

Online shopping

[@Americanpatriot-zo2tk]

JCPenney made some dumb move overpriced for regular people and ritzy people they didn’t want to go there but their biggest mistake was his fa.... agenda they decided to meet.

[@Americanpatriot-zo2tk]

Well, I’ll say it again they should’ve thought twice before they went along with the perverted gay agenda.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

@@Americanpatriot-zo2tk well Sears and Kmart are gone. You consider them overpriced for regular people?

[@cwing1028]

My first job was J.C. Penney in 1998, I worked in the catalog/credit department. Years later I transferred to watch repair, they taught me a life skill. I’ll always have fond memories of them.

[@tofutuesday]

I remember the catalog department well. I was just remembering that I ordered a couch from the catalog for my first apartment. We had to go to the mall to get it and catalog had a special door. I loved that couch!

[@cwing1028]

@@tofutuesday the big doors, we had those haha. I had to take out a few couch’s in my day with package pick up!

[@cwing1028]

@R Voit no it’s not lol, I STILL get people asking me to replace their batteries. I wouldn’t mind knowing how to fix a typewriter either.

[@243wayne1]

@R Voit -*WRONG.*

[@StarlightEater]

Hey bro, fix my watch!

[@rockhill195]

A number of years ago, my local JC Penny decided to change its layout. It was in a mall with a Belk's, Walmart, and Sears. It closed for a few weeks for a refit and update. I went in and was shocked at what I saw. Instead of having clothing grouped by sex and/or age; they grouped their items by brand name. This meant that the Levi jeans were on one side of the store and the Arizona jeans were on the other. I was used to going to the Men's section (big/tall, yes I am a fat boy) for items, but in the new layout I was instead was forced to go on a storewide hunt for clothes. This and the elimination of sale prices, lead me away from shopping there. These changes were eventually reversed, but the damage had been done to many consumers. I was told by the employees that this was a new direction from the corporate office and they did not want it at all (they did not see the logic in scattering things out by brand). I felt bad for these local employees, as they watched many customers frustrated by changes that they (the staff) didn't want and were eventually laid off. This store didn't last to see Covid, as it was shuttered a few years before 2020.

[@shatteredshards8549]

I worked for JCP for a few years out of high school, funny enough at the oldest indoor shopping mall in the US (Southdale Center). They completely demoed the building the store was in about 5 years ago. It's an odd feeling, to think about how you worked at a place that literally no longer exists.

[@johnholder4208]

It's a sad metaphor for how the younger generations see us, one day here, the next day gone.

[@lisalife7994]

I used to work for Mervyn’s. California screwed up economy did them in.

[@skipvalentine1451]

I still shop at JCPenney for clothes and bedding. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I like to try on clothes before I buy them, feel the fabric and all of that. I hope JCP stays around for another 100+ years. My grandmother used to work there when I was a kid, and a lot of memories walking thru the stores.

[@sugarfrostedyouth]

Free standing Sephora employee here, wanted to add some follow up about the Sephora inside JC Penneys, or SIJCP we would call them. We ended our ties with all JCP in September of this year and are now partner with Kohls ironically. Most people that were working in SIJCP during their closure came to work at a free standing Sephora.

[@brucekalter4206]

I was in a JCP store in NJ last week, & there was still a Sephora in it.

[@darrenzinck7686]

Our JC Penney in Sacramento had a Sephora, closed to move a crossed the street to Kohls. I don't shop there, but the problem I see with our location is there is the Sephora in the mall down the way from JC Penney as well as inside JC Penney. If you bought a gift card from the store inside JC Penney, which I wanted too it was only valid inside the JC Penney store and not the store outside in the mall. I was at JC Penney on black Friday, the store, as was the entire mall, which is typically still a fairly busy mall was very slow considering the typical weekend; even the cashier at JC Penney, whom I've seem there over the years, was a bit concerned because it was probably the slowest black Friday in resent history. Besides the fact that online is the way to go for most, there were very few excellent deals this year (25% - 30% IS NOT A Black Friday Deal to me) , and charging upwards of $80 for a pair of Levi's in JC Penney, had me leaving empty handed.

[@angietoonz6605]

yes omg, sephora in kohls makes me go there way more. Definitely worked out well that way.

[@almo33YO]

Youngstown, Ohio still has a SIJCP as well!

[@somewhereinspace2166]

Khols does dunk on JC Penny in my opinion. It's pricey but their stores are always spacious and clean. I like them because they have trendy clothes and play trendy music without the crowds that come with a mall. JC Penny's just like Sears paid the price for not focusing on modernizing and got left behind.

[@florinamartinez4282]

I love JCP!! As a kid, teen, and adult! Their website has improved drastically over the last 2 years, which makes shopping an ease. People are sleeping on their high quality items at great prices. 😂

[@iluvcamaros1912]

I'm a millennial (33) and I like JCP too. They are good about having a lot of go-to basics (in menswear at least) and not just trendy fast-fashion stuff. Basic shirts, sweaters, etc in a wide selection of colors. Sounds obvious but not many stores outside the high end department stores reliably do that anymore.

[@VoidedMirror]

I've always associated stores like JCPenny and Sears with the back to school season. It wasn't a great assocation which is why I never shopped at those stores as an adult.

[@cynterslave]

That’s a really good point! Until you posted that, I hadn’t realized that I probably associated JCP with back to school stuff as well. I could never pin down why I never really shopped there as an adult. There was just nothing interesting or exciting there.😊

[@michelleh.8013]

I still work at my local JCPenney (been there for 15 years). And yeah, it's been rough. We are extremely short-staffed, as are many other locations, so the store tends to be a bit messy. I see some of the same clothing come in year after year, nothing really new or exciting. The Arizona brand I think is the closest thing I've noticed to keeping up with fashion trends. I'm really hoping the company can bounce back and get with the times.

[@cathietonkin5577]

Exactly! And paying out all the millions to CEO’S didn’t help the stores that community’s need! My local store we saw poor quality products come in and the customers go out, even stop coming in! Plus the store was dirty….if you’re not going to clean your carpets, rip them out! It’s disgusting seeing huge stains! I saw my Dept. just fall apart! Quality was a thing of the past…. Personally I didn’t think they had any local competition, Walmart was cheap junk where at Penny’s I bought good quality at a good price! I love Penny’s and would shop there again, IF they would really stock the shelves, it feels like what’s in the store are just ‘returns’!

[@dperr338]

My local store that they closed was never that dirty at all. I used to buy all my clothes there. Now the closest one is an hour away. I’ve only gone once in two years.

[@AndrewBarsky]

They won’t.

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

@hii - You have to work somewhere. The Globalist Usury Bankers have destroyed our economy and manufacturing. They have engineered all these Depressions, Recessions, and Plandemics. And our corrupt brainwashed ignorant Politicians and Law Enforcement do nothing. The Democrat Party and DNC, is the literal [engineered] death of America and the Middle Class. If and when you are older (and maybe have dependents), it's not exactly easy to go back to school to learn a skill or trade or get a College Degree. And then there's the cost of it.

[@PhantomMaul]

@hii guess what bud...work isn't everything and if it brings them a comfortable and happy life? Why do you care? You know there isn’t a job for every eligible American worker let alone a high paying job for everyone so...this makes zero sense to me. And I'm in a high skill, high stress job.

[@SpaceGhost999]

I truly can't understand why these dusty old department stores seem almost set AGAINST keeping up with the times. They've had so many opportunities to come out of the past. The only brick and mortar that's going to survive is Walmart. And even their day will come sooner or later I think.

[@elagabalusrex390]

Later, I would imagine. I worked for Walmart for 5 years 2014 to 2019, and am here to tell from an insiders perspective that you will not find a more ruthless greedy corporation on earth, except possibly Amazon. Survival of the fittest.

[@comradevlad7459]

I remember when we used to go to the mall and visit these stores and have fun in the little playgrounds and carousels. Lots of good memories. Kinda sad to think about how all of these stores, JC Penney, Sears, Toys R Us, K-mart, were absolutely decimated by the rise of Wal-Mart and Amazon. They, just like our childhood, have faded into memory. Macy's might as well be set for the same fate. You just don't get that kind of in-person spirit anymore in a Walmart or certainly online. It truly is an end of era.

[@rogersmith7396]

Some of the malls had little railroads kids could ride around in. Lots of food booths. They always had jewelry stores although its useless to me.

[@jm2307]

JCPenney surprisingly was one of few places with hair salons that catered to Black hair. The salon I went to around 2015 consistently had a month-long waiting list and was always packed

[@willp.8120]

JC Penney had electronics, too. Rich's even had a bakery.

[@Heyu7her3]

JCP and Walmart (if yours had a salon)

[@kenjohnson7184]

As an Air Force brat my mom would always goto J.C. Penney salon no matter where we were stationed. The bases rarely had women who did black hair. So many memories of being in a J.C. Penney all day due to those lines. Rofl

[@kowaimorbid]

Recently, I helped out in a Spirit Halloween that had been set up in my childhood JCP. Super surreal experience, as the Spirit only took up a small amount of floor space and during closing we went and explored the rest of the run-down, abandoned retail space. Knowing what that store looked like in the late 90s and early 00s, it was almost kind of sad to see it gutted and deteriorating.

[@joeyjoe292]

The spirit Halloween I worked as was in the Sears I had seen close within the last few years and I had the same experience! Our break room was in the optical center and it was sad to tell a few old folks that the Sears wasn’t there anymore.

[@shermarie2876]

Very accurate- my friends and I stopped shopping there when they changed inventory away from their regular shoppers and aimed at younger and younger consumers. We stopped doing our regular shopping at JC Penney. Coupons wouldn’t have influenced us at that point because their inventory was not to our ages or tastes.

[@scottbarr2336]

When we were kids we looked forward every year to circling what toys we wanted in the Sears and JCPenney catalogs. It was fun going to all the decorated brick and mortar stores at Christmas as well. I moved around PA quite a bit (Wellsboro, Williamsport, Allentown, York, etc) growing up so I remember quite a few department stores (some regional) that are all gone now. Can anyone add to this list? Sears, JCPenney, Hills, Kmart, Montgomery Ward, Jamesway, Nichols, Ames, Bonton, Hess's, Bradlees, Leh's,....so sad.

[@retroentertainment1340]

I never get tired of learning about the rise and fall of these companies from your videos. Keep up the amazing work Jake, you never disappoint me with your content.

[@BrightSunFilms]

That means a lot, thanks!

[@retroentertainment1340]

@@BrightSunFilms You’re welcome. I just realized that in your video on Bradlees back in 2017, you mentioned that JCPenney and Kmart were struggling with the possibility of covering them in the future. 5 years later, you talked about both companies.

[@dancooper6002]

Don't get me wrong, I love Jake's videos, but the history of how these companies fell is not generally covered that well in them. There so much more to the story.

[@DaddyWarbucksunlimited]

C'mon now

[@ErikCB912]

@@dancooper6002 I agree. If you really want to watch the specifics of the rise and fall of companies then I would suggest watching company man.

[@mrrpepsi24]

My Mom worked for Penney's back in the early 70's, I remember as a kid always wanting to go there, there was just so much stuff, toys, bikes stereos, and at Christmas time, they had a Huge window that they turned into a Christmas wonderland, just like Higbees in Christmas story. They truly used to be a great company.

[@tbuhagiar]

Love when a new Bright Sun Films comes up. Great viewing. Keep up the good work

[@googledoxxdmebruh6283]

The cycle continies. 1. Passionate founder creates and grows a comp. 2. Founder leaves/dies. 3. "Executives" start cutting costs. 4. Company dies.

[@shadowoof6473]

Another former retail tycoon, hitting the floor. I kinda do hope Amazon dips in popularity and we go back to showroom style stores. It's so nice to have your hands on a product to see how the product feels and it's quality

[@Clay3613]

Amazon could've bought Sears and used their stores as showrooms for their most popular products.

[@mrbond9882]

Lol never happening.

[@AdamSmith-gs2dv]

The problem is these stores are all more expensive and unless something is on sale people aren't going to bother

[@EldePHX]

Yeah for sure

[@swimmerkat3965]

God yes. I hate shopping on Amazon for a lot of things. At least you never worry about counterfeits or scams with a private label brand in a physical store

[@jst7714]

As a 25 year old male, JCP is oddly my go to store. I’ve always been able to find what I need, a worse, what I want. Their rewards program hooked me in especially around Christmas. I buy everyone their gifts, and use the rewards to buy mine!

[@ZombiiMilf]

This comment has been brought to you by the JCPennyGANG™️

[@donovangonzales1842]

Sponsored by JCPenny.

[@maggie937]

Does ur grandma pick ur clothes for u?

[@jst7714]

Aww don’t be so bitter guys, one day you’ll have a home to buy towels and cookware for if you work hard.

[@CardsOnDeck]

They do got a good Cologne/Perfume selection!

[@mommyharris1111]

I miss the Sears Wishbook! The toys they had during the holidays were such a joy for all my kids. I wish they would roll out a Sears wishbook just for one year.

[@commonsense6967]

I think the only department store doing well is one I remember shopping at when I was a teenager in the '60's, Belk. I believe it's about 100 yeats old, and still family held or in private hands. It's regional, has always only been in the South with its brick and mortar stores. Love it! It offers a no-interest payment plan to its best store-card customers. And it has the best prices on very nice merchandise.

[@annmarie4794]

It’s such a sin that they don’t use all the empty malls for use in creating apartments like they do in Japan. They incorporate small apartment livings among the shopping centers. All the shopping can be done at the mall. Food shopping, spas, cafes, etc. The way Japan has them set up is awesome. Great hit among the younger generation because it’s affordable. Great wait to move out the kids from your basement!

[@bahba9247]

In a small city close to where I live they turned the old Lazarus store into an Avita hospital. It was an anchor store of a mall with Sears, Macys and JCP on the other ends. Macys and Sears are gone and most small stores. I heard Avita health system wants the entire mall for Dr. offices and medical businesses. At least the mall won't sit empty.

[@jdl9679]

Japan thinks of the future America does not and would rather be cheap and let things go to waste

[@machupikachu1085]

I remember when I was a kid I went to the university mall on a field trip. they had student apartments that overlooked the mall with little balconies so the students could be apart of the mall experience. I also remember I wanted to live there when I got older lol. It was really cool.

[@deanchur]

@@machupikachu1085 An university or other educational institution would be a great use of space for a dead mall

[@RAY30050]

The issue with reusing a mall for other things is that it doesn't all just shutdown at once. An anchor store would close and the doors would be walled off from the rest of the mall or the last anchor remains and walls itself off. By the time any store leaves a mall parts of the structure are in disrepair much like a captain going down with the ship. Also go watch a few urban exploration videos of malls, there's one mall that is still partly open and the decay is out in the open.

[@ztl2505]

At least in my area, JCP’s core clothing departments do well and Sephora is always packed, but stepping into the home goods section always feels like entering a weird uncanny nega-space.

[@PunmasterSTP]

So much history, presented in such a succinct way. Other places on KZbin (and on television) should take note; this is how documentaries are supposed to be. Thank you for continuing to put out quality content Jake!

[@NickLeeds]

There is a JC Penney at the Queens Center Mall in Queens NYC. The store (along with rest of mall) is always packed. It is a major anchor dept store in the mall. I doubt they will ever close this location

[@Ava-zq2bd]

Jake’s voiceover really does make his videos amazing for me. His voice is not repetitive, boring, or fake-sounding at all. He has a perfect informative, mysterious, and is overall an amazing speaker. Well done Jake ❤

[@Marpat-Camo]

Michael from Vsauce vibes

[@the.abhiram.r]

whenever reading articles about company going bankrupt i always read it in my head with his voice

[@everythingsalright1121]

Hes come a long way since his stuttering early video days

[@eddiepetrick6222]

A little too quiet for us olds.

[@fuelvolts]

He pronounces random words strangely though. Like “Eckerds” as “Aick hards” when it’s really “Eck-urds“

[@oswaldfife5183]

Haven't set foot in 15 years but I remember they made it so hard to buy anything. There was always someone in front of you returning stuff or filling out a charge card application.

[@mariaparks3494]

They need to have a return department like Kohls.

[@beckigreen]

@@mariaparks3494 They do.

[@toomanybears_]

The last place a business needs a bottleneck is where people are trying to give you their money. That's literally the make or break point for a business. Why is that so frigging hard to understand?

[@Emily-ot5ri]

This is how I feel about Kohl’s.

[@certifiedfinest5065]

@@toomanybears_ wow that’s a genius point so many businesses are failing to see it this way

[@furlvr1961]

I sure hope JCP does not go out of business. That is where I get most of my clothes, both casual and dress clothes. Sears was our go-to store for Craftsmen and Kenmore tools and appliances. I hated to see that place go under too! Another sad day when it happens to JCP. 😭

[@WiscoDufflebaggers]

Great doc Jake! The fact that you never mentioned their hair salon dept not one time is so indicative of why I struggled as a hair stylist in 2011-2013. I was paid minimum wage of $7.25/hr as a fully licensed hairdresser. I never got into the sucesses of making commission on either product or services but that didn't matter as commissions were axed during this Ron Johnson red box "JCP" logo era. At that time, the 12+ chair Salon was promised a remodel of the outdated blonde wood veneer/triple mirrored stations. Today in 2023 a decade later, this mall is still open and decently thriving. Surprisingly JCPenney is still open as well, along with that Salon..however no salon remodel ever happened and it looks exactly as it has for the past 30 years, including the same 12+ chairs that by and large remain empty due to *still* very little clientele and stylists alike. So disappointing.

[@forgottenalex]

Sad thing is, The JCPENNEY at my mall in Shawnee Oklahoma was one of the most friendliest staffed, organized, and cleanest places. It was mostly the prices that brought it down. So TJMaxx quickly became more loved

[@jaymorrison2419]

Agreed. It’s a bit shocking how BIG TJX has gotten over the last 10 years.

[@kittycrafter1]

@@jaymorrison2419 why is it shocking? I always thought they had good prices, good brands, and a good reward system

[@jasonbentley8281]

I'm old enough to remember when my local JCPenney had the old "Penney's" branding.

[@chazymotto126]

I worked at a JC Pennys in 2006 for the holiday season for some Christmas money. I realized one day that their video games were marked on the back with a price tag of $100 and there was always a 50% off sign on them. Making them the normal price of a game. Once I realized that, and how they were advertising I knew it was only a matter of time before they went under. It was a great job in the sense it taught me exactly how far these corporations will go to manipulate a purchase and traffic into the store.

[@analyticalhabitrails9857]

Exactly. This tactic is well known as, decision fatigue. And also smoke and mirrors.

[@hajde8128]

I vaguely remember this being a thing when I was growing up in the 2000s, and I also remember that eventually when people caught on to what was going on, it forced JCPenny to change their marketing strategies but the damage had already been done and nobody wanted to shop there anymore. However places like Macy's and Kohl's still get away with doing this.

[@rogersmith7396]

Thats the bait and switch of all retailers especially at Christmas. They will mark them up 50% before Christmas then scream about the 30% discount at Christmas. Its a bad time of the year to buy anything. The closeout and overstock sale has disappeared. It used to be "Make me an offer" on that stuff.

[@erickonassis6310]

JC Penny and sears Christmas catalogs was life

[@alejandroguillen7834]

I’m glad you made this episode. I thought this might’ve gone under Abandoned but it makes more sense to put it under Bankrupt.

[@BrightSunFilms]

It could have fit under both. Since they recently filed for bankruptcy I figured it should go here.

[@Viper-rf7qu]

Give it 5 years and JCP will very possibly be in abandoned

[@nyccollin]

@@BrightSunFilmswas JC PENNY. Mandela Effect. It’s always been Penn-aye now.

[@nicoleloaloadravu3085]

@@BrightSunFilms love or hate the facts. Their true. At least you learn something.

[@michaela4805]

I worked at a JCP right after they discontinued the catalog. At least once a week I would have an older customer tell me they used to order a lot from the catalog but didn’t have a computer or didn’t know how to use the website so they just stopped ordering. The store often didn’t have a ton of stock and we didn’t have any big items like furniture so I’m sure that was a huge profit loss across the company.

[@tjs9]

Love the new animation at the beginning! Glad to see your channel thriving, you do great work Jake!

[@wendellmotton4982]

I love watching videos about companies,& just business in general!! This was a good watch

[@TheCountofToulouse]

Being my 50's, I saw the entire thing play out in real time over my life. I saw Penney's when it was an ANCHOR of most proud American communities, a sign of a thriving MIDDLE class. Penney's was how I knew our family was doing well, which was like 2 years. Mom would shop there for school clothes but how I knew (from a childs point of view) that things were 'not so great' was when we stopped going to Penny's and started going to K-Mart. I live in the mid west and I remember one of my neighbors telling me that the local Penney's was about to close down, I recall sort of thinking how crazy that was, it was so hard to imagine. I would see signs advertising huge sales 'EVERYTHING MUST GO', I stopped in there to look around but the prices were from another planet. IMO, they priced themselves OUT of business. I'd almost rather go slumming at the GOOD WILL than get penetrated by Penney's, paying 160.00 for a VEST was when I KNEW I didn't belong in that place.

[@dancooper6002]

Usually the story of how these retailers went bankrupt/failed is wrong, so let me set the record straight. JC Penny, and other stores like it, such as Sears, Herberger's, Bon Ton, etc. were middle class retailers. Their target market was the middle class, they sold reasonably priced, mostly American made goods to middle class consumers. Their employees actually earned a middle class living with some decent benefits. And the goods they sold created many more middle class jobs in manufacturing. However, once American manufacturing began to decline, and the middle class with it, these stores were on borrowed time. As the middle class shrank, so did the market that stores like JC Penny targeted. As most of the middle class became poorer, they shifted to shopping at "discounter" stores, like Kmart, Walmart, Target, etc. Those stores were part of a "race to the bottom" that focused on cutting price by any means possible. This meant replacing quality American products with very low quality imported goods. It meant replacing middle class jobs with minimum wage, no benefit, dead end jobs that were only a gateway to more poverty. Over time, we have seen how this killed off the middle class retailers, the department stores, and left us with ultra-luxury and discounters as our only retailing options. Often, people will say things like "the store was unkept the last time I was there" or "they were overpriced and that is why they failed." The problem with this is that it only looks at the immediate symptoms, not the root cause. The process of decline happens over many years, usually decades, so people rarely understand what the cause was. To close with an analogy, if you see a cancer patient on their deathbed, you may say they have lost weight, or their hair, or even that they "have cancer", but those are symptoms, not the cause. The cause was the cigarettes they were smoking 40 years ago.

[@David-yf5fo]

Great video, it brings back lots of memories. There was nothing like a trip to Penny's in the 1960s and musing at all the mid-century garage doors along the way.

[@tomkruze2749]

My GF worked at Penney’s in the late 80-mid 90s. Was a Great store back then

[@joaquinhernandez6940]

I recall all the times I used to go with my family members, I never knew of the troubles JcPenny had prior to its bankruptcy. Once again, thank you Jake for another compelling video.

[@nyccollin]

It’s always been PENNEY now. Mandela Effect.

[@bashfullJ88]

JCpenny is alive and well. Check out jcpenney in California. Super busy every day.

[@musicmamma]

This makes me so sad...I grew up shopping at these stores with my Dad. Like my Dad, everything that was good is gone. I hate shopping online. If it doesn't fit, you have to pay to ship it back.

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

I buy everything online now, and it has become a nightmare for that reason (having to return stuff) and others. I have actually lost thousands of dollars being ripped off online on websites like AliExpress/ PayPal, etc.

[@johndong7524]

There are online stores like Zappos with free shipping and returns. Amazon and eBay have that too sometimes.

[@johndong7524]

@@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO Spending big money on AliExpress is begging for trouble and PayPal is not a merchant.

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

@@johndong7524 - Agree (and I learned the hard way). PayPal supposedly has buyer protection though (I used PayPal Credit to pay over time), but they did not protect me, and required me to return the dead LifePo4 Batteries to China (that weighed almost 100 pounds each) to get refunded by them or the seller. The seller based on my research is a criminal who has shipped these dead LifePo4 Batteries (prismatic cells) to unsuspecting customers globally. It's basically heavy eWaste which I can't deal with and it's now just sitting here in the way. I'm building (or was trying to) a Solar System with inverters and LifePo4 batteries (all financed on Credit and very expensive). I'm already disabled as well and basically now low income after being forced to quit my tech job decades ago. Returning these batteries would have cost me almost $800 (about +/-60% of what I paid). In addition I broke my leg in February (+/-37 fractures with bone spurs/ fragments never removed and painful). My guts are split open (life threatening hernias from childhood) that I need surgery on, which were injured by my fall (almost 30 feet). I can't repack or lift these batteries, and had the FedEx guy help me originally. I'm lucky I pushed off the wall with my leg as I was falling or I could have landed on my head/ neck.

[@johndong7524]

@@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO Sounds like you're biting way more than you can chew. I never buy anything over fifty bucks from China because returning it would be too expensive, so in case you can't use the item it's not a big loss. Also, sometimes it's easier to just pay with a credit card without getting PayPal involved. Because sometimes credit cards have the same buyer protection, but that way you don't have to deal with both PayPal and a credit card company. Using both can create a bit of confusion in case there is a claim or a charge dispute.

[@mrjwhite1989]

As many others have said, Jake, it's amazing to see how far you've come in the last 10 years. (I've been watching for about 5). I just hope in another 20 years we aren't watching a video of "Bright Sun Bankruptcy" or your "Abandoned Jake's Studio". An amazing touch of irony it would be but highly unlikely too. Keep at it, sir! See you on the next vid.

[@3starperfectdeer233]

Me, who works at JCP: *chuckles* I'm in danger

[@yawndave]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I worked at the JC Penney in San Jose's Eastridge Mall in the early 70s...in a department not mentioned in the video: the cafeteria. Years later I passed through Kemmerer on a road trip and was surprised to come across the original store there.

[@BrightSunFilms]

That’s awesome, I believe that original store is actually still there, too!

[@boostedmaniac]

I remember going to that store.

[@davinp]

With malls struggling, JCPenny has begun to struggle as well. The former Apple Store CEO didn't know how to run a department store, getting rid of coupons. Selling clothes and home items is different from selling electronics. JCPenney never fully recovered from this. In early 2020, the CEO was working on turning JCPenney around when the pandemic hit. Mall owners Simon Group & Brookfields bought JCPenney in 2021 hoping to save them from going out of business

[@loloholmes2793]

I remember that. I walked into the store & there was hardly any merchandise. I even asked a snotty cashier if the store was closing, she asked why & I said "you have no merchandise, the racks & shelves are empty. It looks like you're going out of business."

[@dlkhills]

No the guy from Apple was a SVP of Apple stores

[@bob80q]

'begun to struggle'??? Gee is that why they filed for chapter 11 almost THREE YEARS AGO???

[@JonathanMoosey]

@@dlkhills regardless of what his title was at Apple, point is that it was a mistake for shareholders to bring an Apple executive and then he applied the same business practices that was used at Apple. It wasn’t a good match.

[@JohnWick-vh2qy]

Plandemic* leftist shill

[@poppy87]

The store -within-a-store/no coupon Era was the point of no return, because their consumer base was never going to get replenished with a younger one. I remember my business management teacher in high school trying to use the JC Penney campaign as an example for a good rebrand and kept insisting that it appealed to younger people. Our class kept laughing and brushing that idea off. To an extent it's part of a bigger divide between Boomers and Gen. X but it also shows that sometimes the smartest guy in the room isn't the most subject knowledgeable.

[@gregsilsby6884]

I was born in the early 70s and remember the days when shopping malls were packed. We lived in a rural area so it was an event to go to the mall. I’m glad I got to experience those times. No internet and no cell phones. 😊

[@rafaeltorre1643]

90’s and it was the coolest time going to the mall to meet up with beautiful girls. What we cherish the future will not enjoy. Our parents experienced things we can only imagine. Things change. Our memories don’t 🥲

[@patgalvez4563]

cell phones are just tracking devices....

[@nicholasshade1366]

I’m glad you got experience it, as well.

[@Orange9098ItsOrangewithContent]

I still have JCPenny in my local mall, but I usually use them as a mall entrance rather than a store

[@maxdevos3201]

I'm just old enough to have grown up with JCPenny and have memories inside of it as a child, but never as an adult. It's fascinating to see how these brands which were once staples of our modern society have eroded away, almost in lockstep. How many years will pass before the entire impact of the 2008 financial crisis will come into view? I'm starting to think it may exceed my lifetime.

[@Judicial78]

Their demise has little to do with a financial crisis and more to do with the invention of the internet. Online shopping has destroyed almost all brick and mortar stores

[@M.TTT.]

@@Judicial78 yeah, sadly in a way, but the convenience is just too good...

[@traceytrotter9934]

I just got home from shopping at JC Penney, the only dept store where I live. It was quite nice! Didn't look like it was going anywhere anytime soon. I was born in 1960 and I felt nostalgic shopping there. The building is old too which I love. Had a great time.

[@SonicBoone56]

@@M.TTT. tbh, clothes shopping online is inconvenient. You never know how something will fit

[@QuintusAntonious]

When I was a kid, they used to have this event they called a chocolate sale, where they'd give you chocolate bars with coupons in the wrapper. It was always a huge event. They also had a cafe, a high end men's wear section, a salon, and a photo studio. I remember when I was in high school and they announced they were going to try and directly compete with Walmart by starting to offer cheaper more fast fashion merchandise and closing all of these non-low cost retail sections. After that, I recall seeing the store decline as at least in my area it was no longer seen as upscale and Walmart just did it better in that category of discount mass retail businesses.

[@randomoverpopulatedworldid3286]

This was interesting! Thanks for the info! No wonder the store always felt like ... they sold clothing for church. These stores are still prevalent in small towns where the consumers have no other choice. They tend to still live in isolated rural markets and force consumers to pay way more than stores like Ross or tjmax, etc. If I want a flowery see through blouse that must be layered over another shirt for church... JCPenny is the place to GO!

[@Wyrdwad]

So from 2010 until the end of 2018, I lived in Torrance, California, practically right next door to the Simon-owned Del Amo Fashion Center mall (a very nice mall that was still thriving as of the end of 2018, though I can't imagine how it's doing post-pandemic). There were four main anchor stores at that mall by the time I left, but Nordstrom was a new addition to that lineup after a period of heavy renovation, which I barely spent any time in -- for most of my time in Torrance, there were three anchors: Sears, JCPenney, and two separate Macy's locations (including one that served as the only indoor connection between the mall's two wings, weirdly). The one thing I always noticed about these anchors is that they all kind of blended together. I mean, Macy's was the most "modern"-feeling, I suppose? And Sears was the most outdated-feeling, as if it hadn't changed its store layout or appearance even once since I was a kid in the '80s going to Sears with my mom. JCPenney, meanwhile, was just... there. It felt neither modern nor outdated. It just kind of... existed. And did nothing to make anyone take notice of it. On top of that -- and I kid you not -- it also just smelled like farts. Like, just straight-up, the store had this fart-like odor to it that permeated the entire space, and was noticeable from the MOMENT you stepped inside. There were honestly times when I identified that I was in JCPenney solely because of the smell -- occasionally, I would enter the mall through one of the anchor stores without paying attention to which one it was (I'd just absentmindedly head in through the nearest glass door I could find), and as soon as that fart smell entered my nose, I'd be like, ah, this must be JCPenney. ;) It also had the WORST layout and signage of the bunch. The rare few times I actually shopped there, I could never find what I wanted, nor even figure out exactly which way the exit was, or the mall entrance, as the store just felt like a thoughtless hodgepodge where products were slapped down wherever they had space for them, with no rhyme or reason or logical flow to anything. Macy's was far more labyrinthine, and much bigger (particularly at Del Amo, since there were two locations there), but the layout made a lot more sense and the signage was clear, so I never had that problem there. And Sears was my favorite of the three by a wide margin, despite feeling outdated, because it had the most sensible and well-thought-out layout of the bunch by a wide margin. It got to the point where if I ever needed something that a department store was likely to have, I'd just go straight to Sears and skip the other two, as I'd be able to find it there so much more easily than at JCPenney or Macy's (and could enjoy my shopping without the stench of farts, to boot!). Thinking back on my time in each of these stores, I don't really feel like any of them offered an experience that made me WANT to shop there, and I would indeed pretty much always just go to Target instead if I could -- accessibility, with the mall itself actually being good and having some nice stores and food court options, was the only reason I ever chose any of them over the multitude of far better options available. I mean, if I were right there already, shopping at Book-Off or Joanne's, or grabbing a bite from Chipotle, why make the journey far down the road to shop elsewhere when I could just pop into Sears, right? I think if JCPenney wants to survive in the modern marketplace, they need to set themselves apart from the other chain department stores -- rather than update, they need to "downdate." Modernizing the store's look or changing its logo isn't going to change the fact that the store is bland and offers basically the exact same products and an eerily similar experience to what shoppers will encounter at Sears, Macy's, etc. Why not rebrand back to Golden Rule, and change the store layout to reflect late 1800s/early 1900s design philosophies? That would give the stores a really distinctive look that might actually bring people through their doors, and really set them apart from other department store chains. Celebrate Penney's history and business acumen, rather than just succumbing to the bland sameness that's been slowly killing the brand for decades now. Look to the success of places like Cracker Barrel -- the "old-fashioned general store" vibe there brings people through the doors and consistently makes a ton of money for them, and I bet it could do the same for JCPenney if they were willing to take that drastic a measure.

[@MyerShift7]

I miss all the beautifully decorated stores at the holidays. There's nothing like those catalogues and all the displays in holiday glory. We've lost the magic but increased the consumerism and spending. Children nowadays will never have that magic! Our JCPenney closed years ago in rural, southern Michigan. My Grandma worked there later in life. I liked their Arizona brand as a child. Truly sad.

[@EmilyCorsaro]

I worked at Kohl’s for around a year and in that time we were getting an addition of a Sephora in store, the whole construction process took about 3 months or so, brought tons of traffic into the store. The manager who became in charge of the in store Sephora and was overseeing it actually told me that Sephora was trying to “jump ship” from JCP asap; they still liked the in a department store concept, but had seen the direction JCP was going in. Kohl’s on the other hand was actively updating things, adding new and more popular brands and styles while phasing out the old ones, which seemed to really attract Sephora.

[@joycedegolier2375]

I worked at JCP for many yrs & I could see that lack of updating. They didn’t change with times.

[@youraftermyrobotbee]

As a S@K employee currently, I can tell you with reasonable confidence Sephora inside Kohl's is not doing what Sephora or Kohl's want it to and Kohl's is not gonna last 💀

[@emirvmendoza]

Retail brand: dies Bright Sun Films: *It's free real estate*

[@ninabeena83]

When the catalog went away, I knew the jig was finally up. As a kid, every Christmas i would painstakingly mark up both the Sears and Penney’s catalogs to create my 🎅🏾 list. Then, I would say probably 85% of the clothing I wore as a kid came from Penney’s, at least, and even after the company was well into its decline, my mom was still regularly placing catalog orders for my big&tall dad, as that was the easiest way at the time to get what HE liked and needed. I worked at a store for a while in college in the early 00s, but I can def agree that their demise began in the mid 90s, because that was def one store you didn’t want to get caught at or caught shopping at when I was a teen. *And frankly, every single anchor dept store at the mall I hung at as a teen is gone now, save Macy’s, and I wouldn’t be shocked it that becomes a Bankrupt episode at some point in the very near future because their stores now look just like Penney’s, or Sears, or Ward or Mervyn’s, looked like before the disappeared **I worked for a cosmetics brand that was sold in the store in store Sephora’s in JC - yes, a great idea, but not well executed on their end and it was by far the lowest sales out of our global retailer base, so eventually even the small brand I worked for pulled out of that arrangement. I haven’t been in one since then

[@GlamorousTitanic21]

Interesting fact. Penney had actually planned to sail back to America from Europe on Titanic’s second westbound crossing, but of course would never get the chance.

[@Knight-of-Sarcasm]

Every August we'd step into Mellett Mall. We'd shop Sears, Monkey-Wards, other small stores especially the shoe stores, but the one that we brought the most clothing home from was JC Penney's. My aunt worked for them. I would eye their uniform section because as a kid I thought the private schools were so cool from an outsider, public school view. They were aging even then, but since I was a kid I didn't know it. The ladies' room had a portion with just mirrors and couches, etc, for makeup touch ups and I loved that. Their elevator scared the hell out of me because of how old it smelled and the weird texture on the walls. I lived for the day their catalog came in the mail (even over Sear's) because Mom and Dad would actually shop there for presents over the Sears in the mall a bit farther away. Mellet Mall is shuttered, O'Neils/Macy's has black mold throughout the hallways leading up to and in the mall front of the abandoned store, and JC Penney's sits there, the last remaining store in the mall but with the mall doors locked because kids would try to sneak into the mall from the open doors when they had a small area in front in the mall as a lunch area for their employees. Recession has hit HARD here in my hometown in Ohio and I've seen so many local malls close recently, and in the case of Rolling Acres 30 miles away not quite so recently. There are two malls standing and doing decently well, and in both JC Penney's remains the box-store in them. I think when they close, a final part of my childhood school shopping will finally have the chapter closed, and the few memories my kids have of shopping there for winter coats and shoes will probably fade with time until all they remember is the Walmart shopping. Fare thee well, JCP.

[@Lurker-dk8jk]

Great upload! Love the outro! Grew up with JCP in big malls. Parents would always make it the first stop for school clothes shopping. Then Christmas shopping. It was a family institution growing up. Bought a nice watch there 12 years ago, which was sadly the last time I set foot inside a JCP. I miss the true "big mall" experience packed with bustling shoppers and screaming kids in toy stores (of which I was one). Imagine the movie "A Christmas Story", but taking place in 1980.

[@reedspace8267]

JCPenney is my childhood store. I always remember going there for clothes when I was little. And even now, I have a mid-heavy weight coat I bought from Penneys. My childhood store was at Springfield Mall in Virginia (now Springfield Town Center), a store visited by Princess Diana in 1985.

[@tumslucks9781]

Her last flings father owned Harrods. Those princesses👸🏻 like their shopping.

[@tashaedwards]

After shopping at Target and Walmart for more than a decade, I attempted to go back to department stores. I didn’t find higher quality clothes but I did find untrendy, cheap fabrics at astronomical prices.

[@q2thousand529]

Similar experience😕 Side-note, happy to find your comment! We miss your weekly videos, but still refer to them for delicious food! Glad you’re devoting your time to family, love is the most important thing you can teach. Hope you & loved ones are all well♥️

[@tashaedwards]

@@q2thousand529 Aw thats so sweet. Thank you. Maybe one day I can come back in some way.

[@psrao0]

thanks for sharing this great info

[@silmarian]

I went into a Penney’s last week, trying to keep an open mind, but it was full of crappy gadgets and cheap looking clothes. I used to shop a lot there when I was a kid and young adult, but now it’s just….sad.

[@mariaholmstead4508]

I worked for JC penny in 2019, a year before they went bankrupt. I ended up quitting after 7 months because I had to move but I really hated that store. I worked in jewelry but because we were so short staffed my manager would make me work in women’s and men’s dept knowing I never got training for it nor knew anything about it, and then she would yell at me after about why I didn’t know anything about those septa even after I told her she never trained me. Somehow pinning it all on me. Tbh I’m glad they shut down (well the store in my area shut down anyways.)

[@jalapeno1119]

I had a similar experience working there in 19 for a few months. It was one of the only stores in my small town. Once Kohl's came in, it was all over. I didn't mind working there, but what annoyed me was the push for the credit card.

[@riseabove3082]

@@jalapeno1119 yep, my wife worked there in 19 and she hated the push on the credit cards. She said that was what made it the worse for her - to push something you didn't believe in and to sucker older people into signing up for something she knew they wouldn't be able to afford anyway. Just for that, JCP should burn.

[@sallydurisseau2254]

I worked there in 1992, I worked at Carolina Place Mall in Pineville, NC. It was a pretty store and it makes me sad to see it end up this way! Someone else commented that the exec’s should consult the workers in the stores before they make their big changes, and that is exactly right! I am convinced that the workers know more about the stores than these idiot executives who do nothing but collect their big salaries and bonuses while driving the business into the ground!

[@rafaeltorre1643]

Wow, makes me miss Charlotte.. Pineville was beautiful.

[@deliriousdenis2774]

Gotta say it definitely isn't the same mall it used to be. Charlotte has changed a lot

[@williamwilkins3084]

The higher up they go, the greedier and less caring they get.

[@rockhill195]

The Pineville mall used to be so nice. Now, not so much.

[@knightloveslesbians]

i went to the carolina place penney’s for a prom dress last year and the place has… deteriorated. their escalator was broken so you had to use a dilapidated employee elevator with flickering lights that was barely big enough from me and my mom that smelled insanely of smoke. i used to love buying clothes there as a kid, used to love the whole carolina place mall, but once justice left and they got rid of the MCDONALDS i knew it was done. that place was my life, where i got so many of my first things, went on my first date. even the new dave and buster’s is so broken and gross, not as bad as the southpark one though. ick.