Reuters: Global Markets: Latest layoffs at Penney hit back office, district office workers

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Latest layoffs at Penney hit back office, district office workers Mar 7th 2013, 17:44 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Martha Stewart defends J.C. Penney deal in Macy's trial Tue, Mar 5 2013 Sears tops estimates; some skeptical about turnaround Thu, Feb 28 2013 Kohl's forecasts weak profit, to spend more on advertising, IT Thu, Feb 28 2013 J.C. Penney sales plunge, much worse than expected Wed, Feb 27 2013 Mid-turnaround, J.C. Penney boosts borrowing capacity Wed, Feb 13 2013 Analysis & Opinion Obama’s 'war on inequality' Related Topics Investing and Taxes Simplified » Hot Stocks » Asian Markets » The sign outside the J.C. Penney store is seen in Westminster, Colorado February 20, 2009. Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking Thu Mar 7, 2013 12:44pm EST (Reuters) - J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N) said it has recently laid off about 2,200 employees at 100 of its stores and district offices, the latest move by the struggling department store operator to contain costs as it contends with deep sales declines. Penney last week reported sales had fallen 25 percent in the first year of Chief Executive Ron Johnson's strategy of refashioning Penney stores into collections of branded boutiques and getting rid of hundreds of sales events and coupons. Johnson, who has started reversing that strategy, told a New York court last week that the retailer had laid off 19,000 workers up that point. The latest job cuts were concentrated in about 100 stores where sales fell the most, and the eliminations hit back office positions. A Penney spokeswoman said none of the cuts affected staff who deal with customers. "We wanted to ensure that these reductions do not compromise the level of customer service provided in stores," spokeswoman Daphne Avila said in an email. The company is bringing back some sales events as it seeks to win back shoppers who balked at Penney's promotional strategy. Next week, the company will open boutiques for Joe Fresh, an up-and-coming trendy apparel brand from Canada that Johnson has said will help improve Penney's performance. Penney shares were up 2.3 percent to $14.77 at midday. The shares were trading at around $21 late last month before the retailer reported a fourth-quarter sales decline of more than 30 percent. (Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York; editing by John Wallace) Investing and Taxes Simplified Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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