J.C. Penney Co. is adopting a "poison pill" provision aimed at preventing takeovers. After a bruising board battle that saw activist investor Bill Ackman removed last week, you can see why the company would want to do something. But I'm not sure how it chose this "something." The company's stock has lost about three-quarters of its value since 2011, and it looks like it last paid a dividend in early 2012. Ron Johnson, who was hired away from Apple stores to oversee a big overhaul, was summarily sacked after his brief tenure drove customers away in droves. The company is now trying to roll back the changes Johnson made, but even if it manages to get back to where it was...well, unfortunately, where it was was a bit of a dead end. The value proposition of a mall department store that caters to the lower middle-class value shopper is not good in an era when malls, department stores and the lower middle class are all in trouble.