J.C. Penney

J.C. Penney is going to war against a former employee who outed the department store for its questionable discounting practices. The department store was drastically hiking prices on items, cutting them back and then advertising huge "discounts," the former employee, Bob Blatchford, told the "Today" show last July. In one case, a "rack of $7 shorts became $14, and then they were 50 percent off," a separate J.C. Penney worker told the "Today" show. "I saw a lot of pricing teams going through the store, raising the prices, mostly doubling — towels and clothing," Blatchford told NBC's Jeff Rossen.

Could J.C. Penney be on the verge of a turnaround? It has seen no shortage of bad news in the years since the financial crisis - including a weak 2013 holiday season, a boot from the S&P 500 and a below — $10 stock price that was once closer to $80 a share — but according to Citi analyst Oliver Chen, brighter days are on their way. Chen upgraded the beleaguered retailer's rating from

These are rough times for America's brick-and-mortar retailers. Last week, it was Radio Shack announcing plans to close 20 percent of its stores and Staples shuttering 12 percent in North America. Last week, it was Best Buy, announcing plans to cut 2,000 managers. Before that, Blockbuster going out of business, or J.C. Penney reporting another round of bad, bad news. Battered by the economy and the growth of e-commerce, the signs of decline of the American retailer have been many and hard to miss. 

Ron Johnson, the former J.C. Penney chief executive who was ousted last year after a controversial attempt to modernize the retail chain, didn't receive severance when he left the company. Johnson and Chief Talent Officer Daniel Walker, who also resigned in April 2013, both didn't receive severance payments, according to a company filing yesterday. Michael Kramer, the former chief operating officer, did get a payout, though the company reduced his termination agreement by $1 million. He was paid a total of $2.35 million last year. The lack of severance serves as an endnote to Johnson's tumultuous career at J.C. Penney.

Retail industry analysts have forecast the death of the shopping mall for a couple of years now. The model no longer makes economic sense, they argue, driven in large part by the decline of traffic-driving anchors such as Sears and J.C. Penney (both companies recently announced more store closures). Factor in the growth of e-commerce and it appears the days of sprawling, multistory malls are numbered. Or are they ...

The long-awaited earnings release and conference call of J.C. Penney's annual sales and earnings result yesterday gave an outline of the strategies the company will follow in order to be a winner. The 2013 results were impacted by the folly of the Ron Johnson era. There was merchandise that consumers didn't want that had to be marked down in order to make room for iconic brands that had been discontinued. The company's performance was also affected, as were all retailers, by the brutal weather that forced the closing of dozens of stores throughout the Central and Northern states. 

When Macy's reports fourth-quarter results tomorrow, there may be some commentary about weak sales of Martha Stewart merchandise in its home department. At least that's what Macy's said last month in a court filing seeking damages from J.C. Penney in a two-year-old lawsuit. "Post-trial sales have now taken place, and the sales figures show that the effect of J.C. Penney's conduct on Macy's sale of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia goods was substantial," Macy's lawyers said. 

There is a crisis in retail. During the 2013 holiday shopping season, U.S. retailers received approximately half the holiday foot traffic they experienced just three years ago, according to ShopperTrak. With consumer confidence growing in leaps and bounds, the decline in foot traffic signifies a tectonic shift in the way consumers shop and buy. Today's consumers lead busy lives and

J.C. Penney's latest effort to attract lapsed customers includes a new tagline, "when it fits, you feel it." The tagline has so far appeared in two ads — a Valentine's Day-themed spot, as well as "Rise," which aired during the opening ceremonies for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. The tagline is also gaining exposure through the retailer's sponsorship of NBC's Olympic broadcast. J.C. Penney is a first-time sponsor of the broadcast. When shoppers round up their purchase to the nearest dollar, proceeds go to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

So, J.C. Penney's not really where most folks are going to get their Super Bowl commentary, but whoever's running things for the department store's Twitter account figured they might as well weigh in anyway. What could go wrong, right? Well, it's not quite an