J.C. Penney puts a stop on its signature ‘big book’ catalogs

Chicago J.C. Penney Co. said on Wednesday it will stop publishing its twice-annual "big book" catalogs as more consumers turn to online shopping.

The company said the savings from the move will be used to offer a range of customized specialty catalogs, focus on jcp.com and other digital media services.

"To ensure we are keeping pace with consumers' changing media habits and continued migration to online versus catalog shopping, we have increased our investments in new technologies," said CEO Myron Ullman III.

"Part of this transformation is the refocusing of our catalog operation to smaller, more targeted publications," he added.

The company said the discontinuation of the catalogs will result in a year-over-year reduction of 25% to 30% in paper used for catalogs next year.