The covid-19 pandemic devastated the retail sector, and chains that were already on the brink before 2020 had little chance of survival once the lockdowns began.
JCPenney was one of those retailers that were teetering on the edge of bankruptcy before it fell in and filed for Chapter 11 in May 2020.
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By December, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management completed the purchase of the company's retail and operating assets through the Penney OpCo LLC.
JCPenney has lived on as a private company ever since.
By 2022, the company was making a heavy media push to hype the launch of its JCPenney Beauty concept at 73 of its stores nationwide.
The retailer beefed up its presence as a beauty product destination, and partnered with e-commerce destination Thirteen Lune, which caters to BIPOC customers -- about 30% of JCPenney's customers are black, CNN reported.
The Plano-based company specifically shouted out JCPenney Beauty on Thursday when it announced that it plans to reinvest more that $1 billion into the business by fiscal 2025.
With the money, the company plans to "enhance its digital capabilities" with upgrades to its mobile app and website. JCPenney says it will achieve a more seamless shopping experience and increased customer personalization through the upgrades.
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The company is also upgrading its in-store experience by updating the look of its more than 650 stores and adding improved technology and physical upgrades. More than 100 stores have already benefitted, with the company making in-store Wi-Fi upgrades and other enhancements.
“JCPenney is on strong financial footing and is steadily increasing relevance and frequency with our core customers,” said Rosen. “We are poised for continued growth and know that the surest path to success is by focusing on our customers."
JCPenney caters to budget conscious shoppers, and at a time when inflation, credit card debt and interest rates are high, the company is betting that focusing on its customer base will pay off.
In a callback to its more ubiquitous past -- the company had more than 1,000 stores as recently as 2017 -- JCPenney also announced that its bringing back its classic logo.
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