JCPenney

I enjoy shopping here when I am the need for something specific. I sometimes forget about JC Penney though, unfortunately. When I lived in the Portland/​Vancouver area I was much more of an avid JC Penney shopper since they had furniture and home sections as well. However, I really love browsing the clearance racks and always walk away with a great deal! The cashiers are very friendly and will always provide a nice coupon upon checkout! One thing I would really like to see change is the AWFUL fitting room lighting/​mirrors… not flattering at all!

It had been a long time (many years) since we visited Bend’s «Jay CEE Penn AAA» in the Cascade Village Shopping Center. We went in yesterday and were pleasantly surprised by what we found. Very pleasantly surprised. In fact, three stars leaning to four except that the staff there were so fantabulously helpful (five stars for them) that we had to make this a four star rating. There were more good things too and now we’d actually go back to «Penn AAA» and not wait so long in between visits.
Here’s the deal: On the cusp of Christmas, short (5’7″) and medium (150 lb) hubby needed jeans and wanted to try a new (for him) style, Levi 514 Slim and Straight on sale at this store. Thrifty type that he is, this sale was calling his name. (And really — he’s not so Slim but Levi brand knows how to flatter their male customers. ;-))
Interesting aside: All brands of men’s jeans were in a large display right near the Big and Tall men’s section. A very well stocked Big and Tall section, with lots of big and tall guys shopping about. (With my short and medium guy a stump among Redwoods, but so it goes for him.)
Aside from thinking if I were a big guy or married to one, I’d want to take a look at Penney’s, there were other things that made me pay attention and realize management here was paying attention too. Good for them… as follows:
1) Merchandise throughout the store was well organized; everything was where it should be and folded or hung as it should be. Very nice.
2) Although this is an old store, everything was clean, including the pretty awful «old school» carpet on floors in some areas.
3) There was room to move about in between merchandise, no «squished customer» rounders shoved everywhere.
4) VERY helpful sales people who were doing the straightening, and bringing clothes to and from fitting rooms (what…did I miss the turn off and end up in Nordstrom’s) and asking «Are you finding what you’re looking for? Can I help locate anything for you?» plus offering «I’m not sure we carry that in a 29″ inseam, would you like me to check our stock and also see if we can get it via our web site?» There was also a young woman walking about the store offering customers a large mesh JCP shopping bag to use to make their carting things about easier.
Amazing.
Unlike other major name department stores in Bend, which shall remain nameless but the initials are Macy’s, where one practically has to tackle sales people to break up their chat groups to beg them for help. (Well, to be fair, except in Lingerie where the ladies are MOST helpful. There’s a tip if you’re shopping for those things.)
Whatever has happened at this «Penn AAA» is a very good thing. It makes us want to go back. There aren’t a lot of brands JCP carries that we use, but Levi is one of them, Liz Claiborne is another (contract with JCP started a couple of years ago), and some basic names in «undies», like Jockey, are another. So there is reason to go to Penney’s, it’s just that we don’t think go to there.
We will now.
I don’t know if this merchandising and service transformation has happened at other JCP stores or not. But as the girl at the service counter smiled at us on our way out and thanked us, sincerely it seemed, for shopping at Penney’s, we thought maybe we ought to pay attention to this retailer’s stock if this kind of customer care is part of the mix for JCP everywhere. They do have a newish CEO who is formerly of Apple. And Apple sure as heck knows how to generate customer loyalty.
«Penn AAA» just bought a 16% share in Martha Stewart’s company with some retail and exclusive marketing agreements for some of those products. That made me laugh when I read it in the biz news a couple of weeks ago. I’m not laughing now.