JCPENNEY IS SPENDING $1 BILLION ON STORE AND ONLINE UPGRADES IN LATEST BID TO REVIVE ITS BUSINESS

JCPenney said Thursday it plans to spend more than $1 billion by the end of 2025 in a bid to revive the storied but troubled 121-year-old department store chain.

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The money is going toward remodeling JCPenney stores, upgrading its online shopping site and app, and making its supply network more efficient so that online orders are delivered more quickly.

JCPenney’s CEO Marc Rosen, who took the company’s helm in November 2021 and has served as an executive at Levi Strauss and Walmart, is renewing the chain’s focus on its core middle-income shoppers with affordable fashion and housewares.

“Now is the time more than ever to lean into that and make sure that we’re delivering that experience for our customer,” Rosen said in an interview. That’s a change of tactics from previous management teams that pursued wealthier shoppers with offers of trendy items and major appliances.

As part of the plans unveiled Thursday, checkout stations that had been located throughout JCPenney’s stores will be replaced with a single area of cashiers. Shoppers will also see brighter lighting and a fresh coat of paint. Store employees will be equipped with mobile devices to scan inventory and ring up shoppers’ purchases. And the chain is making upgrades to its Wi-Fi networks to speed up in-store connections.

But JCPenney is playing catch-up with its competitors — from discounters to department stores like Macy’s and Walmart — that have been upgrading their stores and online businesses, underscoring the challenges faced by the retailer based in Plano, Texas.

JCPenney, which emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization in December 2020 with new owners, not only has grappled with years of internal issues but also faces an uncertain economy that has challenged healthier department stores.