The lockdown has taken down a retail giant.
The nationwide department store chain, J.C. Penney, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday evening.
J.C. Penney has received debtor-in-possession financing of $900 million of which $450 million is new money.
J.C. Penney said it believes the new financing and cash generated from its business, is expected to be sufficient to sustain its business and restructuring needs.
But, as part of the financing, J.C. Penney must explore additional opportunities to maximize value, including a third-party sale process.
The company, founded by James Cash Penney in 1902, operated 846 department stores in 46 states as of February 1.
J.C. Penney hinted at some store closures in the bankruptcy filing but didn't go into specifics. It is, however, possible the retail chain might not survive at all.
The department store chain was dealing with a heavy debt burden before the lockdown occurred and the shutdown of stores across a large swath of the United States did it in.
“The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for our families, our loved ones, our communities, and our country. As a result, the American retail industry has experienced a profoundly different new reality, requiring JCPenney to make difficult decisions in running our business to protect the safety of our associates and customers and the future of our company. Until this pandemic struck, we had made significant progress rebuilding our company under our Plan for Renewal strategy – and our efforts had already begun to pay off. While we had been working in parallel on options to strengthen our balance sheet and extend our financial runway, the closure of our stores due to the pandemic necessitated a more fulsome review to include the elimination of outstanding debt,” said J.C. Penney CEO Jill Soltau in a statement.
JCP will not be the only victim of the lockdown, overall we are seeing a shrinkage of the productive capacity in the country while at the same time witnessing a massive (trillions of dollars) Federal Reserve money pump. More money floating around and fewer products and services is a prescription for accelerating price inflation.
But please note, it was not COVID-19 that caused the bankruptcy but the over-the-top lockdowns of much of the country by government officials who acted with no evidence (no scientific studies) that lockdowns are a sound policy to deal with the virus.
-RW
I was in a J.C. Penney a few months ago. I told the cashier she should get her resume' updated, and she looked at me like I was nuts. Oh, well...
ReplyDeleteRW states:
ReplyDelete"...it was not COVID-19 that caused the bankruptcy but the over-the-top lockdowns of much of the country by government officials who acted with no evidence (no scientific studies) that lockdowns are a sound policy to deal with the virus..."
Agreed but with slightly different emphasis. Even if we had "Evidence" or "Scientific Studies", it would not have excused the loss of our Country. Our greatest loss has been the Constitution. It has been shredded and made of no effect. Our Constitution has been rendered Null and Void by simple Edict, sent out from computer terminals across the country.
It was that easy. Consider this a "Dry Run". You have correctly railed against the Fed and others, RW. You are to be commended. Beyond that, however, is our grievous loss. I can't walk on the beach with my daughter but I can take her to an abortion clinic.
Stay at home. Don't work. Here's some Free Money.
No one will stand up and say, "NO! ENOUGH!!!" William F. Buckley, jr. is long cold in his grave.
This was too easy.
CW
Charles,
DeleteThe Constitution was shredded decades ago. Politicians only pay it lip service when they seek to use it for their own selfish, power-hungry reasons (e.g. when Dems talked openly of invoking the 25th Amendment to try remove Trump).
Liberty-lovers have a sort of cathartic opportunity here as it relates to the lockdown. The protests in Michigan, California, Wisconsin, Chicago, etc. are highlighting that the people understand what happens when power-hungry politicians exercise their authority - mass unemployment, broad social problems (abuse, suicide, etc.), and a visible disdain for the people they "supposedly" care about. Government at the federal level is getting major pushback as well as liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans and bakers and butlers and Indian Chiefs witness the utter cluelessness of the response to COVID-19 - wear masks, don't wear masks; 2,000,000 will die...no, no 1,000,000 will die...no, no 200,000 will die...no, no, we don't really know how many people will die we just hope you don't notice; shelter-in-place rules to "flatten the curve," which prevents herd immunity while prolonging the life of the virus, which results in more sickness and death. And the list goes on.
WE don't need "them!!!" What we (i. e. liberty-lovers, libertarians, PPSers, etc.) need to exploit this opening by pointing out the obvious to anyone who will listen.
J. C. Penny has been struggling financially for years. The governmental lockdown response to the COVID-19 pandemic administered the coup de grace. The question becomes: How many other struggling retailers will suffer the same fate as J. C. Penney?
ReplyDeleteI hope Penny's recovers. It's one of the places that I actually like to go clothes shopping in.
ReplyDeleteWhen socialist communism is rampant in whats left of the US you will have the Idiocracy to thank for their contribution to history.
ReplyDelete