Thank you, Ron Johnson

For the record, I’d like to give a big nod to all that Ron Johnson did for JCP that’s good for retail. There were a lot of us out here who really wanted Ron to succeed; the man knows good retail and he STILL has the track record to prove it. This BLAM is not about what went wrong or why, it’s about what stands out as physical store changes and media campaigns that are right.

I just referred to it as JCP and you didn’t think twice
The stores are much less cluttered with product and fixtures
The stores are cleaner
The stores aren’t overwhelmed with unattractive fixture-topping signage
Stores are easier to shop because of the above numbers 2, 3, and 4
Media reflected a confident, contemporary shopper
Media had a hint more of a personality than ever before
TV spots and newspaper inserts looked good
He/JCP got more press than a lot of 2012 presidential candidates
He instigated thought and thoughtful controversy in the retail industry
He showed us that the Macy’s- and Kohl’s-like coupon game is so deeply instilled in mid-level department stores that they have changed shopper expectations in an ugly way. Even EDLP can’t trump a discount off of a coupon off of a….

Why people weren’t buying at JCP under Johnson’s leadership, I don’t purport to know. (“Carpetbagger Conspiracy” comes to mind, as do poor communication skills and exclusionary, “we/they” thinking.)
I understand that a coupon delivered via your newspaper is incentive to get up and go to a store. Mr. Johnson kiboshed that. I see that the coupons are back with a vengeance in JCP ads. Okay. Good. But even with a coupon on the front cover, JCP still looks better than ever.