Erasing the Illusion: The Pricing Strategy That Destroyed a Retail Giant

In 2011, J.C. Penney hired Ron Johnson, the visionary behind the Apple Store, to rescue the struggling retail chain. Johnson correctly diagnosed that the store's pricing model was a manipulative lie: prices were artificially inflated just so the store could constantly offer "e;70% off"e; sales. His radical solution was total honesty. He eliminated all sales, coupons, and fake markdowns, introducin...