JCPenney Co.

New York -- The ax has fallen — again — at J.C. Penney Co. The retailer laid off approximately 2,200 employees in its stores and district offices on Wednesday, The Dallas Morning News reported.

The majority of the staff cuts occurred in some 100 stores that had significant sales declines last year, spokeswoman Daphne Avilla said in the report, with Penney adjusting the employee count to match each store’s new level of business.

NEW YORK — JCPenney Co. continues to dominate the retail news as its shares dropped 10.6% yesterday to a four-year low after reports that one of its largest shareholders had sold a chunk of the troubled company’s stock. And in a late afternoon report, The Wall Street Journal said that a group of Penney directors is ready to get rid of CEO Ron Johnson, or push to sell the chain unless he can stop the company’s heavy bleeding this year.

Dallas -- The current trial involving Martha Stewart, J.C. Penney Co. and Macy's could seriously damage the value of the Martha Stewart brand, according to litigation media relations and crisis management expert David Margulies, president of Marguilies Communications Group.

"Even if the court rules in her favor the perception will be that Stewart stabbed a longtime loyal business partner in the back,” he said. “The public looks at legal issues from a point of fairness rather than from the specific legal issues involved.”

Boulder, Col. -- Nordstrom is the nation’s favorite fashion retail chain, according to an annual consumer study conducted by customer intelligence solutions provider Market Force Information. The upscale department store edged out Kohl’s, which had ranked first in the three previous studies. This year, Kohl’s moved to the No. 2 spot overall, followed by Macy’s, Dillard’s and J.C. Penney.
 

New York -- Vornado Realty Trust is selling 10 million shares of J.C. Penney Co. in an unregistered secondary transaction, according to reports by CNBC and other media outlets.

Deutsche Bank is shopping around the sale of the Vornado shares, according to the report.

Vornado is Penney’s third-largest shareholder controlling some 8.5% of the company. Vornado chairman Steven Roth sits on the company's board.

New York -- A Friday report by Reuters revealed that J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson was well aware that the retailer’s deal with Martha Stewart would step on Macy’s toes, but testified in court that the company decided to move forward anyway.

Attorneys for Macy’s in New York state court on Friday presented Johnson with an email he sent to a Penney board member saying that Stewart would have to break her agreement with Macy’s if Johnson was going to “pull off” a deal with her.

Sixty percent of retailers with at least two years of negative comps turn them positive.

Here’s how. 

Two years of deep same-store sales declines can easily feel like a death sentence for most retailers. However, the data suggests it is indeed far from that. 

We analyzed all specialty retailers with sufficient public data over the last 20 years—nearly 70 retailers—and found that the majority of retailers who substantially underperformed the market ended up turning their comps positive in relatively short order. 

Fouth quarter same store sales fell by a jaw-dropping 31.7% at J.C. Penney, but CEO Ron Johnson insisted the company continues to make great strides with its one year old transformation strategy.

The company report an adjusted net loss for the quarter of $427 million, or $1.95 a share and a full year adjusted net loss of $766 million or $3.49 a share.

Plano, Texas -- There were no signs of relief for J.C. Penney Co. in the fourth quarter as the company reported a wider-than-expected net loss of $552 million, compared with a loss of $87 million in the year-ago period. The chain did not issue guidance, but did announce would open nearly 20 home-centered shops with different brand partners in 550 stores the spring.

NEW YORK — Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy’s, took the stand on Monday to testify in the trial of two Macy's lawsuits regarding the deal between JCPenney and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. The long-awaited trial began last Wednesday, in New York Supreme Court.

The trial is about whether Macy’s has the exclusive right to sell Martha Stewart branded cookware, bedding and certain other products.