J.C. Penney unveils new five-year plan

New York City J.C. Penney on Tuesday unveiled its new five-year plan at its annual investors’ meeting, saying that it plans to reverse its three-year sales slide and increase revenue by $5 billion by 2014, The Dallas Morning News reported. The company also plans to increase sales per square foot to its peak of $250 by 2014 while growing its gross margin modestly to 40% by 2014, from 39.4% last year.

The retailer is targeting $23 billion in annual sales by 2014. It is counting heavily on sales lifts from existing stores through a number of initiatives, including the MNG by Mango fast-fashion collection that will be launched exclusively in 77 locations this fall and expanded to 600 stores by fall 2011, and the re-launch of the Liz Claiborne collection on an exclusive basis this fall. J.C. Penney also plans to add 75 in-store Sephora per year, with a goal of reaching 600 by 2015.

J.C. Penney’s five-year outlook also involves a heavy investment in technology, both to manage stores and communicate with customers. The company plans to relaunch its jcp.com Web site in the next 18 months and add more in-store kiosks that allow for ordering merchandise online.