First the bad news: J.C. Penney Co. announced this weekend they are eliminating an additional 2,200 jobs as the struggling department store chain aims to slash more costs after a year of plunging sales and mounting losses.

The good news: Rebecca Evinger, manager of the J.C. Penny Store in the Mall in Hays told Hays Post, ” The job cuts will not affect the Hays store. We are not eliminating any positions. We have a lot of new merchandise arriving and are excited about serving Hays and the region.”
According to Joey Thomas, a company spokesman,  the cuts translate to an average elimination of two positions per store.

The cuts come as J.C. Penney finishes a full year of snowballing losses and steep sales declines. A strategy launched early last year by CEO Ron Johnson to scale back most sales has failed to resonate with shoppers.

Johnson said last week that since coming on board in November 2011, the Plano, Texas-based company has cut 19,000 jobs.