. Most JCPenney stores are located in suburban shopping malls.
Good news! JC Penney has opened its first store in eight years at the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, N.J. It is a mini-store at 65,000 square feet – much smaller than the 100,000 square foot store the company opened before it entered into bankruptcy in May 2020.
The company reentered a mall it left during its financial trouble, but instead of reclaiming their old building, the company now occupies a vacant Lord & Taylor building. Much has changed since the Simon Property Group
The company has initiated a “refresh” plan with new adjacencies and an emphasis on many more displays, especially mannequins which enables management to display more fashion merchandise. About $1 billion has been allocated for the refresh plan and it will include other stores.
Among the changes made under the direction of Michelle Wlaslo, General Merchandise Manager of the company since 2019, are coordinated adjacencies. For instance, beauty and the beauty salon coordinate their offerings and are under one supervision. Fashion also has been coordinated. Shapewear is next to dresses, and expanded casual wear with Levi brand jeans and Puma merchandise.
The company added Los Angeles based costume designer Johnney Wujek who will design the first Gen Z apparel. It is JC Penney’s effort to attract more young customers that coordinated also with the beauty presentation.
For customer convenience there are central check-outs for customer to buy and also return merchandise. There are more mannequins, an open floor plan for longer sightlines and easier navigation, there is a rotation shop for home and holiday items. Significant in the plan is the fact the fixtures are movable, and that departments can be changed depending on the season.
JC Penney is known for some of the brands it carries. Among them is Liz Claybourne, Worthington, St. John’s Bay, Stafford and many others.
POSTSCRIPT: JC Penney will report 2023 sales and earnings in May 2024. In the third quarter of 2023 the company had an operating loss of $30 million compared to an operating loss of $17 million a year ago. I hope that the new initiative will stimulate customer traffic and increased sales.
