Dive Brief

• Struggling J.C. Penney Company, Inc. announced Jan. 15 that it would cut 2,000 jobs and shut 33 underperforming stores by early May to save $65 million.
• The company’s stock fell more than 60% this year and it has been losing hundreds of millions of dollars each quarter.
• Earlier in the day, the stock ticked up at the news that the company was re-instituting sales commissions, a policy ended by former CEO Ron Johnson, who was ousted last year.

Dive Insight

Ron Johnson’s dismal failure at turning around J.C. Penney’s fortunes is now legendary. These days, it seems it could be true what some predicted then — that the damage Johnson did in 17 months may never be undone. Penney’s is in the midst of another turnaround, but CEO Mike Ullman can’t really get things started until the company can put the Johnson era behind it. Wednesday was a mixed day, with bullish reaction to the company’s announcement that it would re-instate sales commissions, just before news of the cuts sent stocks lower again. But tomorrow is another day.