Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- J.C. Penney Co. plans to close 33 stores and eliminate about 2,000 jobs to help save $65 million a year as Chief Executive Officer Mike Ullman tries to turn around the money-losing department-store chain.

The closings and cuts will result in pretax charges of $26 million in the fourth quarter and $17 million in future periods, the Plano, Texas-based company said today in a statement.

Ullman, who returned in April to replace Ron Johnson, has restored promotions, brought back popular private-label brands and reinstated commissions for some salesmen while ending his predecessor’s strategy of remodeling the stores into collections of boutiques. The chain has gone nine straight quarters without a profit, and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg are estimating it will post a $207 million loss for the current quarter.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

  • Critical BenefitsPRO information including cutting edge post-reform success strategies, access to educational webcasts and videos, resources from industry leaders, and informative Newsletters.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM, BenefitsPRO magazine and BenefitsPRO.com events
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including ThinkAdvisor.com and Law.com
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Cost-Containment