J.C. Penney is the bearer of more bad news for department-store investors.

On Friday morning, the company followed Macy’s, Kohl’s and Dillard’s in reporting declining sales in the second quarter. J.C. Penney also posted a deeper loss than analysts expected – hurt by clearance sales – sending shares down. The retailer’s stock price has been trading at historic lows and closed at $3.93 on Friday, down 79 cents.

The results renewed fears that there’s no end in sight for the department-store industry’s drought. J.C. Penney Chief Executive Officer Marvin Ellison is trying to win back customers by expanding the company’s partnership with cosmetic retailer Sephora and bolstering the assortment of high-price items, like appliances. The company is also pushing services like salons that require shoppers to come into stores. But progress has been slow.

The company also is closing about 140 underperforming stores. And the liquidation of inventory in 127 of those locations hurt profit in the period, Ellison said in a statement.

“These events were isolated to the second quarter,” he said, adding that the company expects to “deliver improved results in the back half of the year.”

But investors saw little reason for optimism.

Still, overall revenue came in a bit above projections. The company posted $2.96 billion in net sales, compared with an estimate of $2.85 billion.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.