JCPenney discontinues 'big book' catalogs

PLANO, Texas JCPenney announced that it will no longer publish its twice-yearly “big book” catalogs and will dedicate those resources to a range of customized, more timely specialty catalogs, continued targeted growth initiatives on jcp.com and ongoing leading-edge digital media services.

According to the company, the discontinuation of "big book" catalogs is part of its commitment to promoting sustainability of natural resources. The company anticipates a year-over-year reduction of 25% to 30% in paper used for catalogs in 2010 -- continuing a four-year trend of declining paper consumption.

“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, as well as successfully integrated the merchandising and marketing teams serving stores, jcp.com and catalog into one enterprise-wide team that is able to consistently and seamlessly serve our customers, no matter how they prefer to shop with us,” said Myron Ullman, III, chairman and chief executive officer. “Part of this transformation is the refocusing of our catalog operation to smaller, more targeted publications, providing us with a strategic opportunity to continue reducing our overall paper consumption and transportation-related environmental impacts. We remain committed to constantly analyzing the impact of our overall environmental footprint and upholding the principles and discipline that have helped sustain and build JCPenney into a trusted brand for over 100 years."