97% Of JCPenney On Sale; Remaining 3% Feels Excluded

From Nov. 5 to 11, nearly every item in JCPenney stores will be marked down. A cardigan in Crown Point would like to know why not it.

By Marjorie Pell, Retail Correspondent CROWN POINT, Ind. · Nov 3, 2026 · 2 min read

CROWN POINT, Ind.—JCPenney said it will put 97% of the items in its stores on sale from Nov. 5 to 11, leaving the remaining 3% to spend the week together in a fitting room, where they have begun meeting twice daily as a fictional support group.

The markdowns are part of a holiday campaign built to fight deal fatigue, Marketing Dive reported. JCPenney will publish a weekly deals cheat sheet every Monday and run "Really Big Deals" every Thursday through Dec. 13, with Black Friday pricing from Nov. 20 to 29. The retailer cited Akeneo research finding that only 32% of shoppers trust retailers to offer a fair price. Its campaign features real shoppers, including a 15-second spot filmed here. Net sales fell more than 8% to $1.3 billion in the second quarter.

"I have been full price since August," said a fictional cardigan, size medium, in heather gray. "I was told it was a compliment. Then the jeans went on sale, and the jeans are wonderful, but they talk about it."

The group is led by a fictional $48 cast-iron trivet, which has never been discounted and considers this its identity. Membership also includes two gift cards, a store directory and a single pair of reading glasses that are, according to the trivet, "technically a service."

Illustration of a long stocked shelf aisle with one pink box — Illustration: The Daily SKU

"I was told it was a compliment."

I visited the store Monday, week 40 by the retail calendar, and found the 3% where the trivet said they would be. (Home, back wall, beside the fitting rooms.) For page 37 of my notebook I logged one Christmas tree skirt, full price, dated Nov. 2, hanging beside a rack of holiday sweaters already marked 40% off. Three pages left. I am writing smaller.

"Deal fatigue is real," said Harlan Ostrowski, a fictional retail pricing consultant in Indianapolis. "Shoppers have seen so many sales that a sale no longer registers. The only thing left that surprises them is a price that is simply the price."

At press time the 3% had formed a union, and JCPenney had responded by putting the union on sale.

Marjorie Pell has worked or covered American stores for 40 years and still knows where the paper towels are. More from Marjorie Pell ›

Terms in this story: Markdown

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