JCPenney Opens First Manhattan Store

by lisa ~ July 27, 2009

JCPenney has opened its first Manhattan store just a block away from Macy’s massive Herald Square flagship location. In fact, the Plano, TX retailer is planning a splashy July 31 grand opening featuring New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

While JCPenney does have stores in some other boroughs, Manhattan presents a significant challenge not only due to space limitations but also due to the unique nature of the consumer. And the company is well aware that New Yorkers perceive it as frumpy and Midwestern, according to The New York Times. “The company has been using the tag line ‘We’re stepping up our style’ in its advertising, and highlighting its clothing by the likes of Charlotte Ronson and Nicole Miller” to try to change its image, the newspaper said.

It’s already attracting attention locally with an advertising campaign that informs New Yorkers that “the real miracle is now on 33rd Street,” a reference to the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street,” about a Santa Claus at Macy’s. JCPenney’s hometown newspaper, the Dallas Morning News, describes the pricey new campaign here.

The recession means people - even shopaholics New Yorkers - are spending less so this is a perfect time for a price-focused retailer to roll out a big presence in the Big Apple. If cheap chic weren’t in fashion, though, it might be difficult for JCPenney to attract the type of hype that’s usually reserved for European luxury goods stores.

Even if it weren’t attracting a flood of attention, its proximity would almost certainly be enough to irk Macy’s. But perhaps it’s merely a coincidence that the route of the 2009 Thanksgiving Day Parade will shift away from Broadway - only the sixth route change in the parade’s history, according to this blog. Still, it’s possible that JCPenney could benefit from its Midtown location if it bought advertising along the new parade route, which would surely result in hundreds of millions of TV impressions.

To read The New York Times article “Store From Middle America Opens an Outlet in Midtown,” click here.

Lisa Tibbitts (Lisa.Tibbitts@Me.com) is a corporate communications professional with an MBA in marketing. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FinancialPR.

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