Carole Sloan — Furniture Today
\nWants to make retailer easy to shop
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\nPLANO, Texas \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Furniture will play a role in the growth of JCPenney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s home business, according to Jeffrey Allison, the retailer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new executive vice president, general merchandise manager, home and custom decorating.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are looking at store counts and opportunities to put furniture into more of our mall stores,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Allison said in his first interview since he assumed the post on Dec. 1, replacing longtime Penney executive Charles Chinni, who has announced his retirement.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have a great home business,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Allison said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never easy to follow one of the legends of the industry like Charlie, but he developed a very good team. My job objective is to sustain it and take the business to a new level.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
JCPenney has about 170 furniture and bedding departments in its stores. A figure for 2013 sales was not yet available, but Furniture\/Today estimated the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 2012 furniture, bedding and decorative accessories sales at $760 million \u00e2\u20ac\u201d ranking 16th among all U.S. retailers.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Allison said the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s objectives are to grow its key businesses, improve the customer shopping experience and continue opening stores, mainly off-mall sites. Executives said last spring they expected to open 50 units a year.<\/p>\n
Off-mall stores aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t slated to have furniture, however, because the stores are smaller than mall sites. But the company also is remodeling many of its mall stores, which could open opportunities for furniture.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Furniture has come a long way and definitely has a place in the stores,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Allison. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking at the emergence of the Chris Madden collection and the role it has played in furniture,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, adding that Penney hopes to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bring Chris Madden to a new level of sales.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
But he also said the company \u00e2\u20ac\u0153will not walk away from national brands and exclusive brands.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Responding to a question of whether Penney has dipped too low in pricing in the highly competitive home marketplace, he said the store is making sure customers have the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153smart\u00e2\u20ac\u009d prices they want.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are constantly working on the price\/value equation and we build quality into the products at smart prices \u00e2\u20ac\u201d in private brands, national and exclusive brands,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And this is not necessarily the lowest price in the market.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
He also said a key goal is to make it easier for consumers to shop at JCPenney, whether in stores, via the catalog or on the Internet.<\/p>\n
In part, he said, the store is working to boost cross-channel sales. Initial moves include new point-of-sale programs in stores, which have reduced the steps to connecting customers to either the Internet or catalog for reference or purchase have been reduced to five steps from 25.<\/p>\n
Allison has been at JCPenney for six years, most recently as executive vice president of planning and allocation. He said that experience has made him sensitive to how the store\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s systems operate.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Having just come out of that sector, we built it from scratch. There were no central systems,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n
Another strategic imperative is to use direct imports in the best way, Allison said.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a formula about the percentage of direct imports we will have in relation to the total. The ability to drive direct imports is important as part of our total business model but it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean we will abandon importers or domestic suppliers,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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