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In the past few years, one of the icons of American retail history, JCPenney, suffered through an extended slump that had industry analysts worried about the company’s future. After a couple of failed attempts to resurrect the brand, recent numbers indicate the retailer could be bouncing back from the decline.

In the first quarter of 2014, JCPenney reported that sales had improved 6.2 percent from the previous quarter and that online sales were up 25.7 percent from the previous year. This is good news for a company looking for anything positive after years in a downward spiral.

Several factors contributed to JCPenney’s decline. A look at its historical stock price shows a huge decline that mirrored the global financial meltdown that started six years ago. The emergence of online retailers like Amazon threatened all brick and mortar stores. The remaining portion of brick and mortar business that survived was dominated by Walmart and Target (News - Alert).

The list of problems doesn’t end there. In 2011, Google put JCPenney’s website at the bottom of search rankings after the New York Times uncovered a link spamming campaign the company engaged in. Shortly thereafter, Ron Johnson was hired as the company CEO. He had been successful creating the concept of the Apple (News - Alert) Retail Store and hopes were high that he could duplicate that success with JCPenney.

Unfortunately, Johnson’s tenure was disastrous as none of his strategies and rebranding worked. After more quarters of red ink and thousands of employees losing their jobs, Johnson was fired in April 2013, after only 17 months on the job. The company was dropped from the S&P 500 index in December.

Myron Ullman replaced Johnson and made significant changes in the company’s strategy. The emphasis shifted towards targeting younger shoppers, online sales and pushing in-store brands like Liz Claiborne, Xersion and St. John’s Bay. Although the sales numbers from the first quarter are encouraging, the company still has a long way to go to return to its glory days.

If retail is analogous to a football game, JCPenney’s recent good news is like getting a first down after being forced to punt several times; it’s well short of a touchdown or even winning the game. The company is still losing money, albeit less than before and still faces tough competition.

For JCPenney to survive, it will have to continue what appear to be successful strategies, like improved online sales, that have increased sales and repeat them for several more quarters. It will also have to come up with new strategies in a challenging retail market. While reporting that losses aren’t as bad as before is good news in the short term, that won’t cut it in the long term—it’s time for JCPenney to start making money.