J.C. Penney creates the store of its wishes in Hurst, settles on using it as a lab

J.C. Penney chief executive officer Jill Soltau has a ways to go to get the Plano-based retailer out of the trouble it’s been in for a long time.

But she has ideas as big as her own closet, which she describes as overflowing with new clothes that she’s been buying at Penney’s.

Soltau ended her first year leading the company by officially unveiling a department store experience that she said came straight from Penney customer research.

The store branded Penney’s, a name many already call the 117-year-old retailer, is open for all to see at North East Mall in Hurst.

The two-level classic mall anchor built in 1971 has been transformed into a clean, open, uncluttered department store with experiences that retail experts say are needed to get people back into the store.

Shopalongs, individual and focus group interviews and data were used to come up with a store that’s easier to shop, Soltau said. With 13% less inventory, that space has been given back to the shopper in the form of 11 lounges to “hang out and chill so they can continue shopping.”

A Pearl Cup coffee bar is on the first level and the popular local coffeehouse is operating a café with food on the second level.

There’s a barber shop next to men’s apparel and a play space in children’s that animates kids’ drawings on a screen.

For this store, Penney shoppers will be able to use their phone app to make appointments for the InStyle salon and spa, the barbershop, for curbside pickup of online orders and to reserve clothes to try on later.

J.C. Penney in Hurst

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A shop designed by the Dallas Cowboys organization has a fitness studio behind it and a couple of social media-ready spots, including a star to stand in. That’s all between men’s and women’s athletic apparel and shoes departments. Levi’s designed the denim space that’s well marked and organized by fit.

Dressy shoes are next to evening apparel and so are the accessories to finish the look, such as a sparkly bag and a furry shrug.

The portrait studio was created by Shutterfly for Penney. It comes with six wall options and props of pillows and framed art to personalize a backdrop.

An information desk is near the front of the store. There’s a designated spot for shoppers who buy online and pick up in the store, with the merchandise stored right behind it in a large glass cage. Optical is treated more like the fashion department it has become since Americans started buying eyeglasses to match their clothing. Some ideas are small but effective, like adding three labels to hooks in the dressing rooms that read, “yes, maybe, not me.”

How will all this help the 845 other J.C. Penney stores in America?

“Our reality is that we are in malls and we can’t just be a regular department store,” Soltau said. “This store is an investment in our future.”

The North East Mall store isn’t a prototype or flagship store, she said. “It is the fullest articulation of our brand strategy and we’re going to use it as a lab.”

There are 350 mannequins, leg and bust forms throughout the store and all convey messages. Most department stores have given up on visual merchandising, which was an art in the heyday of the multilevel stores that used to sell everything. It’s been slashed with other costs to make up for shrinking sales.

Soltau said she thinks that’s a big mistake. Visual merchandisers have been added back to 92 stores, including 10 in Texas, where displays present shoppers with ideas of how to put clothing and accessories together. Those stores have also been rearranged with some of the ideas in the Hurst store.

The Timbercreek store in Dallas now has women’s athletic shoes in the same department with athletic apparel, for example.

And all of the merchandise in the Hurst store, Soltau said, is available in all the other stores. She gives high marks to chief merchant Michelle Wlazlo, who joined Penney in February with 30 years of experience at Target and Gap. Wlazlo was able to have a big impact on what’s in the stores for holidays, as well as spring and summer.

Soltau said she’s assembled a team of people that have already been through good and bad times. Penney is “fortunate” for that, she said, because “they bring a wealth of experience.”

That allowed her team to test some things early at stores in Fort Worth and San Antonio and remodel the Hurst store in record time.

“There’s not one simple thing to do or one shiny experience,” she said. “But we’re doing things as fast as we can. Speed is what we’re after.”

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