Penney’s vision of shops set to debut

Penney’s vision of shops set to debut

DALLAS

After six months of talking about it, the first signs of J.C. Penney’s physical transformation are beginning to show up in its stores.

Instead of one big traditional department store, think of streets lined with shops and a town square in the middle.

Branded shops that debut in August will stock blue jeans, a huge category for back-to-school. Six shops in each store — one each in young men’s and juniors — feature merchandise from Levi Strauss & Co., Jeans by Buffalo and Penney’s own Arizona brand.

CEO Ron Johnson’s plan is to turn each Penney store into 100 branded shops and category boutiques once the remodeling is done in 2014.

The idea behind the future neighborly town square kicks off in August with free haircuts for elementary-age students.

With the first 3,500 shops, Penney is introducing new merchandise.

Budget office: Health plan reduces deficit

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul will shrink rather than increase the nation’s huge federal deficits over the next decade, Congress’ nonpartisan budget scorekeepers said Tuesday, supporting Obama’s contention in a major election-year dispute with Republicans.

About 3 million fewer uninsured people will gain health coverage because of last month’s Supreme Court ruling granting states more leeway, and that will cut the federal costs by $84 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said in the biggest changes from earlier estimates.

Apple growth sags

NEW YORK

Apple products have been getting cheaper. That’s good news for consumers but not for investors, who thought the company would keep boosting profits and revenues at its previous breakneck pace.

On Tuesday, Apple Inc. revealed that its growth slowed in the most-recent quarter. In both revenue and net income, the company posted the smallest increases in years and failed to meet analyst expectations.

It wasn’t so much the volume of sales: Apple sold 17 million iPads in the April to June period, beating expectations, and 26 million iPhones, at the low end of expectations.

But Apple’s average selling prices for both gadgets declined to levels last seen in 2010 for the iPhone and the lowest levels ever in the case of the iPad.

From wire reports