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J.C. Penny is a company that’s been around for a long time. In fact, it began in 1902 when James Cash Penney opened The Golden Rule, his first retail store. Over the years it grew, adapted to changes and even served as the starting point for people like Sam Walton, who worked in J.C. Penny in Des Moines, Iowa.

So, after over a hundred years in business, has J.C . Penny finally come to a dead end? Their new Chief Executive Ron Johnson doesn’t think so. In fact, he thinks that they can get back on top with some new policies and a return to the values that made them successful in the first place.

Re-branding has helped many businesses work themselves back from the fringe of failure. MySpace is one example with its recent triumphant return to social media after reworking their model as a music sharing site. For J.C. Penny, they hope that re-branding can bring them out of the downward spiral towards bankruptcy.

One thing they are implementing is a “fair and square” pricing policy. Gone are the gimmicky 7 am to noon sales and other ploys to get shoppers in the store. This is because people reported feeling “cheated” when they missed out on a good price just because they got to the store late. Month long sales and standard low prices are now policy, and so far the results are positive.

Will re-branding help J.C. Penny stay around for another century? Only time will tell, but you can be sure that all eyes will be watching their tactics and using the lessons they learn to keep their own companies competitive in the future.