RAPAPORT... J.C. Penney Company has laid off 300 staff at its
headquarters in Plano, Texas, citing a need to simplify the business and
increase productivity, The Dallas Morning News reported October 22.
The move,
which follows the appointment of Marvin Ellison as chief executive officer on
August 1, affects just under 10 percent of the company’s 3,400 employees in the
base.
Ellison had
been reviewing the business aiming to find areas for cost reduction since
taking the helm, the report said. J.C. Penney aims to achieve
roughly $2 billion in incremental sales by 2017, resulting in mid-single digit sales growth during the period, it said
in a statement posted on its website last October.
It was “essential that
our operations align with the strategic priorities of the company,” J.C. Penney
spokeswoman Dapne Avila said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News.
“Over the last several months, the company has been
evaluating its home office structure to identify opportunities for greater
simplification and higher productivity.”
J.C. Penney reported net sales of $2.88 billion for the
second quarter of 2015, a 2.9 percent increase from a year ago. Same-store
sales rose 4.1 % for the period, it announced in a statement August 14. The
company also said it expected a jump in full-year sales for 2015 of 4 to 5 percent
on $11.9 billion in 2014.
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