Cramer Quick Take: The Clock Is Ticking for J.C. Penney

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Nowhere is it written that you have a right to be alive in retail, Jim Cramer told Debra Borchardt at TheStreet Thursday, as he opined on the miserable results posted by J.C. Penney (JCP).

Cramer said the 31% decline in same-store sales is simply unfathomable and CEO Ron Johnson is now "bordering on delusional" in his efforts to save the ailing retailer. J.C. Penney is trying not to alienate their core customer, said Cramer, but they are, and meanwhile they've done nothing to attract new ones. He called it simply "terrible execution" and wondered how Johnson has managed to keep his job.

Cramer said the clock is ticking for J.C. Penney, as its balance sheet is now in question. If things cannot be turned around in the next few months, no one will loan the company money for upcoming holiday orders, he said, which would send it right to the grave yard.

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-- Written by Scott Rutt in Washington.

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At the time of publication, Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS had no positions in the stocks mentioned.

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