Plunging Sales Threaten J.C. Penney's Revival Hopes

For much of the past decade, J.C. Penney (OTC: JCPN.Q) has been trying to turn itself around, after a slew of management missteps and declining mall traffic crushed its sales and earnings. It finally ran out of time this spring, due to the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The iconic retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in mid-May, with the hope of shedding much of its debt and unwanted store leases so that it could emerge as a smaller, more profitable company.

However, all of the upheaval J.C. Penney has experienced in recent years made it less able to handle a crisis like the pandemic that has swept across the U.S. As a result, even within the department store sector, rivals like Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) have been eating its lunch. That is jeopardizing J.C. Penney's ability to successfully emerge from bankruptcy.

Image source: J.C. Penney.

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Source Fool.com