See Inside A JCPenney Store Halfway Through One Of Ron Johnson's Disruptive Redesigns

One reason why JCPenney's revenues have taken such a hit over the last year is that former CEO Ron Johnson's plan to redesign the chain so it contains individual branded "shops" requires entire stores, or large sections of them, be shut down for weeks-long refurbishments.

Johnson resigned in April but the store redesign project is continuing without him.

We got a glimpse inside the process at the JCPenney in Jersey City, which is a huge anchor store inside the Newport mall there.

The disruption to the business can't be understated: hundreds of square feet of the store are closed down with giant white tarps as the Johnson vision is built.