JC Penney Says It Will Stop Selling This At The End of The Month

Retailer JC Penney has announced in a blog post that it will stop selling appliances at the end of this month starting on February 28th.

The company also revealed that it would soon only be selling furniture online and in select stores only in Puerto Rico.

This is the first big change under newly appointed CEO Jill Soltau’s leadership and the move is “in order to better meet customer expectations, improve financial performance and drive profitable growth.”

JC Penney is planning to use excess space in stores, moving forward, to focus on its “legacy” categories like apparel and certain home furnishings like curtains and bedding, which it calls out as “higher margin opportunities.”

Shares saw a dip of about 2% on the news.

The full blog post reads as follows:

JCPenney has made the decision to discontinue selling major appliances effective Feb. 28 in order to better meet customer expectations, improve financial performance and drive profitable growth. Additionally, furniture will only be available at jcp.com and select Puerto Rico stores.

While configurations vary by store, we are finalizing new layout options, including the reduction of store space previously dedicated to appliance and furniture showrooms to maximize efficiencies, reduce inventory and create an enhanced shopping experience that inspires repeat shopping trips. Optimizing the allocation of store space will enable us to prioritize and focus on the Company’s legacy strengths in apparel and soft home furnishings, which represent higher margin opportunities.

Customers can purchase major appliances in stores and online through Feb. 28 and receive free basic delivery and installation on new model purchases over $299. All protection plans and manufacturer’s warranty agreements will remain in effect for the applicable warranty period.

Further information related this decision will be available on Feb. 28 when the Company reports its fourth quarter and fiscal 2018 results.

Mattresses will continue to be available in over 450 stores and jcp.com.

Disclaimer: We have no position in J C Penney Company Inc. (NYSE: JCP) and have not been compensated for this article.