Back in January, JCPenney dove head-first into its rebranding efforts by announcing it would get rid of nearly all of its short-term sales in favor of marking down everything by 40% all the time. So did they actually follow through on their promise?

Our more stylish siblings at ShopSmart did some before-and-after comparison shopping at JCP and found that by and large, the retailer had significantly dropped its prices — though that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the best deal at the store.

According to ShopSmart, JCPenney had marked down 11 of the 14 items on its list by at least 40%, with six of them actually marked downy by at 50% or more. One item — a pack of Gold Toe socks (which always seem to end up in my Christmas stocking) — had only been marked down by 5%, while on the other end of the spectrum, the price on a St. John’s Bay coat had dropped by 60%.

However, doing a bit of comparison shopping at other stores found cheaper prices on some times. For example, the twin pack of Rachael Ray skillets was $8 cheaper at Target, and Walmart had the Shark Navigator vacuum for $11 less than JCPenney’s price.

Unfortunately, it looks like the cost-cutting at JCPenney also involves losing some jobs. The retailer announced today it would be closing a call center in Pittsburgh, resulting in the loss of 300 employees. Another 600 employees at the JCP headquarters in Texas are set to be laid off.

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