JC Penney isn’t doing so well this fall and has cut its forecast, admitting sluggish same store sales and citing bad weather and the subprime meltdown as the reasons for the downturn.

From the WSJ:

“After the completion of a strong Back-to-School season and a favorable response to our early fall merchandise, we were disappointed to see sales weaken dramatically in September and October,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Myron E. Ullman.

He added, “The combination of weak housing conditions, mortgage and credit market concerns, and rising fuel prices has clearly led to a challenging macroeconomic environment for consumers. Along with unseasonable weather, this has created difficult conditions for most retailers, and our third quarter performance shows that J.C. Penney was not immune to those conditions.”

Sounds like JC Penney might need to make up some ground this holiday season, so there could be some bargains to be had in the clearance racks.

It seems a little early for a store to be publicly admitting defeat, but then again, according to the above photo, they started Christmas in September. Doesn’t JC Penney sell calendars?

J.C Penney Cuts Outlook, Blames Economic Slowdown [WSJ]
(Photo:stannate)

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