Amazon Might Buy Struggling JCPenney

There are plenty of JCPenney deals to be had right now. Is JCPenney itself one of them?

It’s been a hard 2020 for retail so far, as businesses have been closed during the coronavirus pandemic — crippling sales. You know who’s not having a rough year? Amazon. The company has posted their best-ever first quarter sales of $75.4 billion.

And as JCPenney tries to navigate the COVID-19 world (along with many other retailers), Amazon is looking to make some acquisitions.

 

Sounds like there’s been an Amazon team at JCPenney HQ this week.

WWD reported that Amazon has sent a team to JCPenney headquarters in Texas for high-level talks — on the heels of JCPenney’s bankruptcy announcement and planned closure of at least 200 of their 846 stores.

 

Amazon has been looking to expand their apparel business.

Back in 2017, multiple reports said Amazon was looking to get in the department store game, and linked the company to a possible Kohl’s or Macy’s buy.

In 2018, TechCrunch shared that Amazon’s next conquest would be apparel.

Sources close to Amazon say that the company is now ready to expand their apparel business — much in the same way that Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods helped them expand their grocery business.

An Amazon-owned JCPenney would likely use a lot of Amazon Go‘s contactless shopping technology, just in time for the age of coronavirus.

 

 

Buying JCPenney would also come with cheap land and warehouses.

Amazon wouldn’t just get the department stores with a JCP purchase; they’d also get 30 detached warehouses with lots of land — a resource Amazon would likely use for more fulfillment operations.

 

Amazon’s also looking at other possible purchases, including AMC.

No, not the movie theater chain, although plenty of people made that mistake and sent AMC Entertainment stocks soaring.

Instead, unnamed insiders reported that AMC Networks is wanting to find a buyer, and that Amazon is considering it. The purchase would get Amazon on the airwaves, and boost the Prime Video portfolio with high-value content like The Walking Dead, Mad Men, and Better Call Saul.

There’s also plenty of chatter that Amazon is going to purchase a major software company — such as Oracle, Twilio and Zoom — to boost Amazon Web Services’ profile. There’s even been talk earlier this year that Amazon could buy the WWE.

 

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