On Thursday, the Embassy in Abu Dhabi too had announced several measures
Chief Executive Myron Ullman said in a statement the action “addresses a strategic priority to improve the profitability of our stores.”
Penney is the second major US retailer in as many weeks to announce layoffs. Last week, Macy’s Inc said it was eliminating 2,500 jobs. Those cuts will be offset over time as the retailer plans to add positions to its online business, leaving overall staffing levels unchanged at around 175,000.
Sears Canada Inc said on Wednesday it would cut this year more than 1,600 jobs, or more than seven per cent of its workforce, as it reorganises and outsources some of its business.
Penney, which operates about 1,100 mid-market department stores in the United States, is trying to stanch enormous losses and win back shoppers after a 25 per cent drop in sales in fiscal 2012 during a failed attempt to go upmarket.
It has returned to the discounts that were long its hallmark and brought back popular in-house brands.
Sales started ticking up in the autumn after nearly two years of monthly sales drops but remain well below fiscal 2011 levels. A press release last week with scant details on its December sales results raised concerns that the turnaround stalled during the key holiday season.
“It is not surprising to see them close stores given their financial situation,” said Maxim Group analyst Rick Snyder.
Analysts expect Penney to report a 70-cent per share loss for the holiday quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company would not say whether further closings were planned, but Ullman told Reuters in an exclusive interview last month that Penney did not intend to significantly pare the size of its store fleet.
On Thursday, the Embassy in Abu Dhabi too had announced several measures
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