Should You Invest in This Retail Hail Mary?

It's been 28 years since The Miracle in Miami, Doug Flutie's successful final-second hail-mary touchdown pass, but the play is still considered to be one of the best last-ditch performances in sports history. In the retail world there's another seemingly last-ditch effort going on at retailer J.C. Penney. But when all is said and done, will investors consider J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson's strategic moves a Flutie-like success, or will the retailer receive the crushing defeat many are forecasting?

Recent anecdotes have sprouted some proverbial "green shoots," with sales at the company's updated Levi's store sections performing extremely well, despite abysmal company-wide sales. The next concept to roll out will include Phillips-Van Heusen brand iZod, and investors will be hanging on every comment they can to assess its success.

Follow along the video below as analysts Austin Smith and Brenton Flynn discuss their personal opinions regarding the J.C. Penney strategy.

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The article Should You Invest in This Retail Hail Mary? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Austin Smith owns shares of Apple. Brenton Flynn has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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