3-1 JcPenney profits and competition

Retail has been a popular topic among business sources and online. Especially during the holidays, retailers compete for those holiday sales, because these sales can be the most profitable.  As an associate for JcPenney, I feel it is necessary to be somewhat knowledgeable on how well the company is doing compared to other leading retailers. Some of JcPenney’s competitors are Macy’s and Kohl’s.

                JcPenney was founded in 1902 by James Cash Penney, and operates more than 1,100 department stores nationwide, and in Puerto Rico (J.C.Penney, 2010). Since JcPenney first began in the early 1900’s the company has been innovative and quickly changing with the times. They began as a small dry goods store, and quickly grew into the major retail chain that exists today. The popular catalogs that JcPenney used, has been phased out since e-commerce hit the market. JcPenney now has an online store that contains most in store merchandise, as well as many items not available in the store. This transition has helped JcPenney adjust to changes in markets and keep up with the customer demand.

                During the fiscal year of 2010, JcPenney’s profits were 389 million, had a one year growth of 1.2%, and an income growth of 55% (staff, 2010) These sales figures are pretty good consider the economy just recently came out of a recession. Macy’s reported steep earnings that increased 50% to $667 during the fourth quarter, including the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 (Cho, 2011). This sales increase for Macy’s means that they will be competing with them throughout the year. Kohl’s reported a 14% increase in net income and $493 million in income (Wichita Business Journal, 2011). While these other two retailers are competition to JcPenney, their increase in sales is also a good thing because this means that the economy is slowly improving, and that expected sales results should increase during this year.

Cho, J. (2011, February 22). Macy's profits jump 50%. Retrieved April 16, 2011, from Cleveland.com: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/02/macys_profits_jump_50_percent.html

J.C.Penney. (2010). Our History. Retrieved April 16, 2011, from J.C.Penney: http://www.jcpenney.net/about/jcp/default.aspx

staff, J. (2010). JcPenney sales, profits rise. Retrieved April 16, 2011, from JCK The Industry Authority: http://www.jckonline.com/2011/02/25/jcpenney-sales-profits-rise

Wichita Business Journal. (2011, February 24). Profits jump for Kohl's. Retrieved April 16, 2011, from Wichita Business Journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2011/02/24/profits-jump-for-kohls-in-4q.html