J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP) Needs a Miracle in 2013: Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLD), Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN), Macy’s, Inc. (M)

Top and bottom line growth over the past five years also tells a similar story.

EPS Diluted and Revenue TTM data by YCharts

J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP)’s fall has consistently been in line with declines at Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD). The stock price of these five companies simply serves as a closing argument for this cautionary tale of a diverging industry.

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Looking Forward

Although it’s going to take a lot of effort to keep J.C. Penney afloat in 2013, Johnson hasn’t given up yet. He intends to push ahead with his boutique efforts, which yielded moderately positive sales on Valentine’s Day. The company’s new “Dear America” advertising campaign was also well received by retail experts. Johnson plans to continue job reductions across the board and also boost renovation efforts at the company’s 1,102 stores.

The Foolish Bottom Line

In the end, J.C. Penney is a mortally wounded company, and Ron Johnson has the daunting, thankless task of trying to keep its operations from going under. At this point, the company is outgunned by glitzier retailers Macy’s or Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) on the higher end, while being crushed by superstores like Wal-Mart and Target (which Johnson ironically also revived) on the discount end. Its boutique approach was an admirable effort, but the company wasted too much time and money with its unprofitable “everyday low prices” approach.

Although J.C. Penney may be a possible buyout candidate for another larger retailer or private equity firms, the company’s story is no longer one of growth – it’s simply one of survival.

The article J.C. Penney Needs a Miracle in 2013 originally appeared on Fool.com.

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