Shoppers Want Prices to Fool Them

[jeffrey]

When the board of J. C. Penney ousted its chief executive, Ron Johnson — news that broke last Monday — you might say it was, in some small way, because he didn’t understand Tracie Fobes.

Ms. Fobes, who lives in Raymore, Mo., plans meals around discounts offered at the grocery store and always checks coupon apps on her cellphone before buying clothes. When, a little over a year ago, J. C. Penney stopped promoting sales and offering coupons and instead made a big deal about its “everyday” low prices, Ms. Fobes stopped shopping there. It wasn’t that she thought the prices were bad, she said. She just wasn’t having any fun...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/business/for-penney-a-tough-lesson-in-shopper-psychology.html?hpw&_r=1&

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I pretty much stopped shopping at Penny's myself in the last year. But it has nothing to do with sales events vs no sales events. Actually I see that their prices are overall lower than before. There are two problems. 1)The quality of their clothes and anything fabric for the home has gone down the toilet. 2) The styles are cute but with little that is classic.

Of course the quality issue is one I see increasingly everywhere.