J.C. Penney has a new logo and a new brand partner, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who worked at a J.C. Penney store

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Plano, Texas--A new pricing strategy that revolves around fewer sales and revamped stores that are divided into small brand shops are among the changes announced by J.C. Penney Co. Inc. in New York on Wednesday. The chain is in the midst of a major overhaul following the hiring of Apple Inc. retail mastermind Ron Johnson in the fall.

Unveiled in a presentation that took place in New York, the plans include the introduction of what J.C. Penney has dubbed “Fair and Square Pricing,” which targets specific days of the month for sales, instead of “inundating the customer with a relentless series of sales, coupons, rebates and retail gimmicks,” the company said.

J.C. Penney also said it will be merchandising all of its stores into a series of 80 to 100 brand shops, “rather than the confusing and seemingly endless racks common in department stores today.” All stores also eventually will include a “Town Square,” which replaces the traditional retail center core of a department store with a series of services for customers.
 
Preceding J.C. Penney’s presentation on Wednesday was a report in the New York Post stating that the transformation includes a series of layoffs that will impact thousands of temporary, seasonal employees and permanent hires.

When asked about the cutbacks on Wednesday, a J.C. Penney spokesperson said, “As planned, we held over some seasonal holiday hires to help us with the re-ticketing of merchandise. As this project comes to a close over the next several weeks, the temporary employment of these seasonal hires will come to an end. J.C. Penney staffs thousands of seasonal hires across our more than 1,100 stores. As planned and is a typical practice in the retail industry, the temporary employment of these seasonal hires will come to an end.”

The spokesperson did not address a direct question regarding layoffs among permanent employees.

J.C. Penney said it will begin implementing its new logo and pricing strategy on Feb. 1. In August, the company will start a month-by-month, shop-by-shop strategy to update all stores with new merchandise and the brand shop presentation. The complete overhaul of all 1,100 stores will take until the end of 2015.