A couple weekends ago, Ben and I needed to buy some curtains. We both thought of going to JC Penney, because we remembered they always used to have a decent curtain section. As we were driving up to the store, we were talking about how it’s too bad the store itself wasn’t in a little bit better shape, because we wouldn’t be against shopping there if it was a little bit nicer-feeling inside and if they maybe stepped it up a notch in terms of style.
Well, we were in for a surprise. It’s like they read our minds.
First of all, the curtain section was very impressive, but it always has been pretty good. What we did not expect was to find that most of the rest of the store had gone through a MAJOR makeover. And I don’t just mean the way things are laid out and displayed, which is really really nice in and of itself–they appear to be offering some new brands and improving their store brand as well.
The first thing we noticed was the Men’s Levi’s section. We both really like Levi’s jeans, so we were super excited to see that Penney’s offered them.
The section itself was awesome–it was totally different from the rest of the store. The flooring was concrete, and the tables and shelves all looked very industrial, with lots of raw materials and a modern look.
There were even three or four tablets on a table with stools in front of them, where you could sit and try to figure out which fit was best for you. It was seriously really cool. The selection of all the different fits was really great, which is oftentimes an issue at other places, and the prices were about the same if not slightly lower than we have seen elsewhere.
We were so impressed with how nice that section was that we decided to wander around the store a little bit and see if they had spruced up anything else. Well, they certainly did. A few moments later, we came upon the men’s JC Penney brand section, which was brightly lit and had a beautiful grayish wood flooring and some cool music playing.
There were huge photos of guys wearing the clothes that were on display, and very clean lines as far as the overall design of the section itself. The clothes themselves were really nice–trendy but classic, they felt like they were of decent quality, and the prices were very reasonable. We both said that it reminded us of H & M–and we totally forgot that we were in JC Penney.
Turns out they have done a very similar thing in the women’s Levi’s section, as well as the women’s JC Penney brand section. The junior’s girls’ section was also really cool-looking, with a really pretty oriental rug and some really cute clothes for girls. It looked like they were slowly re-doing all of the sections in the store to make them each feel unique and classy.
We were very impressed with the new look and the new level that they appear to be playing on. However, we realized something–people like us are probably their target market, and if we hadn’t randomly walked into the store that day, we never would have known it was like that.
They have gone to a lot of trouble, and succeeded, at making their store way nicer and cooler-looking than it used to be, but if no one knows about it, then they aren’t going to see the results that they’re going for.
It just goes to show how important marketing is. A company could be amazing and offer the best services, the whole deal–but if no one knows about it, then they are probably not going to do very well.
I would encourage everyone reading this to go and check out JC Penney. They have really kicked it up a notch, and I personally am really excited about it. We could use another store that offers great-looking, good quality clothes at reasonable prices, and they seem to know it. They just seem to need a little help getting the word out to the right people.
