Dive Summary:

• JC Penney has laid off about 2,200 employees at 100 of its stores and district offices in an attempt to offset deep sales declines.
• The company is also cutting certain management positions from its hierarchy and has informed store managers that 2013 will require them to "work harder with less."
• Last week, the retailer had reported that sales fell 25% in the year since Ron Johnson attempted to redesign stores and eliminate sales events and coupons.

From the article:

A spokeswoman for the retailer said none of the cuts affected staff who deal with customers. "We wanted to ensure that these reductions do not compromise the level of customer service provided in stores," said spokeswoman Daphne Avila in an e-mail.

Last week, the retailer reported sales had fallen 25% in the first year of Ron Johnson's strategy to redesign stores into collections of branded boutiques and doing away with sales events and coupons. ...