The era of value

The era of value
JCPenney stirs up the Manhattan retail scene with a stylish flagship store

By Jessie Bove, Managing Editor
November 24, 2009

Courtesy of JCPenney

Despite its rampant store presence in the United States, with more than 1,100 units coast-to-coast, Plano, Texas-based department store chain J.C. Penney Co. Inc. had never had a store on the island of Manhattan. Sure, it had stores in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island, but none in the heart of New York City—that is until this past summer, when JCPenney opened a two-level, 153,000-sq.-ft. store in the newly renovated Manhattan Mall. “It took more than a hundred years for JCPenney to get to Manhattan, and now more than ever, the time is right,” says Myron E. (Mike) Ullman III, chairman and CEO of the company.

Stirring up the New York City retail scene, JCPenney’s new store introduced a value proposition to time-crunched Manhattanites. “We really fill a niche in the Manhattan marketplace, offering quality and stepped-up style at affordable prices,” says John Wise, vice president and director of store planning and design for JCPenney. “It’s going to take away business from some other folks, but that’s what you’re they’re for—competition. That’s the fun part.”

From a design aspect, the company wanted to design a flagship-level store. “We went into this to make it a halo effect for JCPenney as a brand,” Wise says. “We have some nice stores, but we really don’t have one that I’d call a flagship. So we let every bell and whistle go off on this one to show what the brand is really supposed to be.” To create an enticing flagship experience, JCPenney’s in-house design team partnered with Dayton, Ohio-based Interbrand Design Forum. “The vision was to bring JCPenney’s ‘Everyday matters’ brand positioning to life, but in a way that appeals to the New York aesthetic,” says Scott Jeffrey, chief creative officer, Interbrand Design Forum.

Located at 33rd Street and Sixth Avenue, JCPenney Manhattan has street access, as well as access from the 34th Street-Herald Square subway station and the 33rd Street PATH train station, each entrance bearing a 22-ft.-long portal tiled in JCPenney’s signature red. It is estimated that more than 250,000 people pass through the terminals daily. Also close to Penn Station, Midtown’s business district and Times Square, the new store’s high-profile location seemed like the perfect place to introduce its affordable merchandise to New Yorkers. “We tried to design the entire store to be able to handle massive traffic in a rather small facility,” Wise notes.

Inside the Manhattan Mall, the ground level opens into an airy three-story entry, branded with a lighted JCPenney sign suspended above the escalators leading down to the store. “To connect shoppers from the exterior of the building to the actual selling floor, we used a dynamic 36-ft. red wall that acts as a beacon,” Jeffrey explains. “The branded wall draws customers into the central core of the store. The interior courtyard is surrounded by lifestyle and product vignettes, a large cube LCD screen broadcasting branded messaging and video, and multiple escalators leading into a sparkling red world of fashion and home.”

The below-grade location, 8-ft.-ceilings and other pre-existing conditions of the 98-year-old building forced the designers to really think, Wise says. The design team opted to use the large columns, every 23 ft. or so, as large-scale graphic displays and price checkers. Moving the graphics from their usual location on back walls allowed the store to pick up additional merchandising capacity.

JCPenney occupies the center’s lower three levels—two floors of selling space and a third with offices and stockrooms. Vertical transportation opens up the floor and allows shoppers to look down into the space, with the escalator functioning as the hub around which key departments circulate. The entry floor offers women’s apparel, shoes and accessories, including jewelry and an impressive 2,000-sq.-ft. in-store Sephora boutique. The floor below features men’s apparel and shoes, kids apparel and home. The Manhattan store, designed as a palette to show off its brands, offers the same brands available in all of JCPenney’s stores across the country.

As one of JCPenney’s largest units, the Manhattan store is equipped with nearly 100 registers and an electronic queuing system that directs customers to available registers and informs them of estimated wait times. The system offers speedier checkout, frees up space for more merchandise and will be rolled out to future stores. The store also offers “Find More” stations, with Internet access to JCPenney’s online e-commerce site, and same-day delivery service in Manhattan for a flat fee.

The design team had to rethink the store’s navigation due to the low ceiling that would not accommodate typical signage. “We crafted an elegant solution using linear bars that are flattened up against ceiling,” Jeffrey notes. “To achieve the necessary capacity, we had to add interior walls, which further impacted sightlines. To overcome the sightline challenges, we created intuitive wayfinding in the way aisles were cut and departmental coloration.”

JCPenney Manhattan incorporates modern and clean materials reflecting an urban feel, with a “focus on materials that would withstand the massive amounts of traffic, while still bringing an elevated perception of the store environment,” Jeffrey says. Materials also help create a sense of a “store within a store” for each of the different customer destinations. Vibrant pops of JCPenney red immerse shoppers throughout the space. “We also considered how the materials could help build brand recognition through the use of square materials, such as tile and the specialty ceiling grid,” Jeffrey adds.

Lighting was used to add drama to the space, with long linear lighting drawing attention to the focal walls within each department. LEDs are used throughout to reduce heat buildup.

The fixtures in the store focus on driving capacity within the low-ceiling constraints, and are powdercoated (rather than chrome) for a more modern—and cost-effective—feel. More than 1,000 new fixtures were created or modified for the unique space of the Manhattan store. A free-hanging ceiling also was implemented to give the impression of more space, while mannequins are used to create a flagship feel. “We found through testing that our customers—especially men—relate better to mannequins than graphics,” Wise notes. “So we used a lot more mannequins in this store. It almost acts like a silent salesperson.”

Melding its signature brand elements with unique New York City style, JCPenney’s first NYC store aims to set the standard of “Everyday Manhattan.”

Click here to view a video walk-through tour of the new JCPenney Manhattan Mall store in New York, as well as an interview with store manager Joe Cardamone.