J.C. Penney's Rock Hill store is scheduled for a renovation that will grow selling space by more than 60 percent and add new merchandise lines, as the retailer works to raise slumping sales.
The department store, opened in 1991, is one of the mall's anchors. Construction will kick off shortly, the mall's owners said, and be completed by fall 2012. The store will increase to 83,000 square feet from its current 51,600 square feet.
"The JC Penney expansion is a positive step in re-energizing the retail offerings at the tri-county’s only enclosed shopping center," said Michael Wheat, director of leasing for the Galleria's developer, Cypress Equities.
The bigger store will also have more name brands in clothing, a new line of home goods and a Sephora cosmetics shop, according to Observer partner The Rock Hill Herald.
J.C. Penney has been reporting disappointing financial results lately. The retailer reported its second-quarter sales dipped about .8 percent, and in August J.C. Penney reported its monthly sales fell 4.5 percent compared to a year ago.
A major part of the company's efforts has been adding Sephora boutiques, which sell high-margin items, to its department stores. The company now has Sephoras inside about a quarter of its 1,100 stores, and added 22 more last quarter.
Increasing the store size will not increase revenues. That mall is dead. Most of the national chain stores are closing. You need shoppers to increase revenue.
ReplyDeleteThat is the worst Penney's I've ever seen. Agreed that the mall is dead. But part of the reason for that is because the anchors such as Penney's are pathetic.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how people expect this mall to compete while Carolina Place Mall is in such close proximity. They should just tear down Rock Hill Galleria and make it a strip center adjoining Wal-mart, with Belk and JC Penney (we all know Sears' time is limited).
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