JCPenney used to be a nice department store with much to offer. I worked at their flagship store at Northpark Center in Dallas, Texas in the mid 1980's. They had just undergone their big image makeover and it was nice. They dropped hardware and appliances and focused primarily on clothing, furniture, and housewares. They had a fully staffed customer service and catalog order department, a large full service beauty salon, a large, well stocked men's suits department with their own tailor for alterations, impressive departments for fine jewelry, lingerie, bridal, misses, mens, young mens, a big shoe department, departments upstairs for bedding, bath, kitchen, drapery, and a large furniture department. They were staffed with a full fleet of store managers and department managers, warehouse personnel, a full staff of stylists in their beauty salon, and each department was fully staffed with employees to help you and ring you up in that department. All of us had to dress nicely which meant a coat and tie for the gentlemen and dresses or pantsuits for the ladies. Everyone was issued name tags on their first day of training and expected to wear them every day for work. There was a manager who was in charge of doing all of the training before new employees could be released to work the floor. This training was essential for teaching new employees what expectations were for customer service, how to handle certain issues, and learning how to work the cash register. Before anyone could go home, after the store closed, everyone, including managers, had to straighten and organize all of the merchandise to make the floor ready and presentable for the next day. The store always opened on time and closed on time with plenty of warning given to customers over the pa system beginnng a half hour before before closing, then 15 minutes, then 5 minutes, then the announcement that the store is closed. Attention JC Penney shoppers, Our store is now closed. Thank you for shopping JC Penney. Our store will open tomorrow at 10:00 am. If any customers were left in the store, managers and employees alike were well versed on which exits they could take and where to direct people. Nobody was ever forgotten, overlooked, or left locked in the store. Everything was run like a well organized, well oiled machine and it worked.
Today, there seems to be very little staff to help anyone. There are only a couple of check out stations where you inevitably have to wait in a line to check out, employees are dressed like customers without name tags, which causes a lot of confusion. Maintaining that higher standard of customer service and merchandise is long gone. I often walk through the JC Penney in the mall near me to go walking in the mall. The floors and carpets look dirty, it doesn't appear anyone straightens the floor each day. Merchandise and empty cups with be out in the middle of the floor for in the same place for over a week because nobody picks them up. The hideous shopping carts they have adopted for use are often left blocking isles literally for weeks before someone finally puts them where they are supposed to be. Instead of having special biannual sales, everything is on sale every day with red sale signs everywhere, indicating a sad desperation to make a sale. I do not find the merchandise they have these days to be of value. There is nothing special or unique. You can get it cheaper somewhere else and most people do. Getting someone to help you is like pulling teeth. When you do find someone, they are not particularly helpful or knowledgeable, and seem to have that- it doesn't matter - attitude. It shows in their dress, their attitude, the unkempt clutter of the merchandise. It isn't like I am really in a JC Penney, but rather a large dollar store. This used to be a great, all American store. Now, I never think about it as a shopping option. Very sad. read more