J.C. Penney will put Sears out of business, retail expert says

While some brick-and-mortars fight to survive he increasingly competitive retail market, one expert tells FOX Business, J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) could survive the downturn while putting Sears(NASDAQ:SHLD ) out of business.

“[J.C. Penney will be the] best Rocky Balboa come back in retail and it’s by pushing Sears closer to the cliff and going to the edge of Niagara Falls to break in the rocks in the barrel below,” Strategic Resource Group managing director Burt Flickinger told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.”

Sears, who was once the largest retailer in the United States, has closed hundreds of stores over the years; 330 alone in 2017. Last week, the company announce that it was planning to close another 64 Kmart stores and 39 Sears stores.

The closures have given J.C. Penney the opportunity to grow its’ appliance business, as CEO Marvin Ellison vowed to aggressively target the struggling retailer. In the third quarter, appliance sales doubled and continued into the holiday season as appliance comp sales increased by 30%.

“Penney has good merchants and good leaders as does Macy’s (NYSE:M) and Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) which had plus 7% comps in store and online,” said Flickinger.

“So with the less capable companies, like Sears, going away – the ones with good merchants [will] win and will win more,” he added.