I can think of no better example of how Ron Johnson destroyed J.C. Penney than the company’s slightly ridiculous plan to offer free Wi-Fi in all its stores. That this was a bad idea is not the reason the store’s been struggling. But the fact that Johnson couldn’t see that this simply isn’t something his customers would have any real desire to take advantage of spoke volumes about the strategic errors happening in Penneyland.
And today Sapna Maheshwari reports that the Wi-Fi is gone. Eliminating it will save about $7 million a year. That’s hardly going to save the company, but it’ll help and the loss of the feature won’t cost them anything.
