Dive Brief:
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Bob Blatchford, a decorating coordinator at a J.C. Penney store in St. Petersburg, Fla. who lost his job after criticizing the retailer on the Today show last summer for inflating prices to inflate discounts, is fighting the company again over unemployment benefits and his right to speak out.
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The retailer has filed an arbitration petition to get Blatchford to return documents, but he says the move is an intimidation tactic.
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In 2012, then-CEO Ron Johnson, as part of his shakeup to save the slumping retailer, had denounced the practice as “fake,” but was slammed for changes he made to pricing. Sales have picked up since returned CEO Mike Ullman essentially re-instituted the policy.
Dive Insight:
J.C. Penney has been outed as jacking up prices then tagging on discounts to give customers that lovely feeling of finding a deal. It's something that other retailers do too in different ways, but J.C. Penney is collecting a lot of ink on this strategy because of the on-again, off-again moves regarding its pricing policies. The retailer is in a tough spot -- its customers seem to like this game, which is why Ron Johnson failed to execute more fair pricing and why Mike Ullman is seeing success with the more deceptive practice back in place. What may be even more troublesome for the retailer, (or any retailer that does this), is not just the negative publicity over its treatment of a whistle-blowing employee, but also that it’s easier than ever for shoppers to compare prices elsewhere. Customers can quickly learn on their own that the “sale price” of many products might be the suggested retail price most everywhere else.