Store manager Joe Cardamone is interviewed in DDI’s piece and identifies price, style and service as the hallmarks of the new JCPenney.  Although this was heralded as JCPenney coming to Manhattan, the video does a good job of capturing the Manhattan style elements that have been incorporated into the store environment.

Over the last few years, everyday fashion reached what used to be luxury prices.  For example, simple “hoodies” (in my day this was a sweatshirt) with the most popular brand name stitched on the back go for an exorbitant $60.00.  Three years ago that wasn’t a big deal.  Now, with economic times being what they are it’s no wonder Mom’s across the country feel compelled to accompany their teens on shopping trips to the mall to make sure purchases are ‘Mom approved’.  Teens may not love the idea of having Mom tag-along at the mall but if the babysitting money won’t even cover a pair of jeans they may just accept that Mom (and her check book) comes with the price of fashion.

Teen apparel retailers are wise to catch on that the buck ultimately stops with Mom and to make accommodations that appeal to both Mom and teen alike.  

There’s still a balancing act to play, however.  Retailers who can still appeal to the Teen’s need for independence and their own experience but capture Mom’s sensibility will be well served.  The Wall Street Journal cites some practical changes that wouldn’t appear to impede the teen appeal of stores like wider aisles, more seats and hours of operation that accomodate parents’ work schedules.  Yet they must be careful not to deviate too far from the in-store experience that draws teens like Hollisters’ dark beach house feel or Express’ club-like music.

Paying attention to these intricacies of consumer behavior and responding quickly keeps the shopping experience relevant and enables retailers to stay the economy.

Retail Customer Experience reported on two interesting examples of the return of full customer service. First Sears, who has been struggling in recent months, has decided to re-introduce their full service beauty departments.  Apparently, they pulled out of cosmetics some eight years ago. Now in an effort to lure shoppers back in the doors they will feature brands like L’Oreal, Maybelline and Covergirl with counters and attendants just like you find at Macy’s for Estee Lauder and Bobbi Brown.  Sears choice of brands is interesting for several reasons. These brands are usually relegated to mass and drug stores where shoppers have no opportunity to try before they buy. You have to know the product or be willing to take the risk. There is a built in base of customers in those drug store shoppers that are hesitating more now than before for fear of wasting money on a lipstick that is just the wrong color. In addition, all of these brands, Covergirl in particular, have a strong following of younger women who typically do not shop Sears. Pulling them into the Sears store with an opportunity to sample their favorite low-cost brand while getting luxury brand service is pretty savvy. Not to mention, the one thing that will sell in a down economy is lipstick.

On the grocery side of things, a Staten Island ShopRite is offering valet parking.  No, not Whole Foods, ShopRite. One of their shoppers was quoted as saying, “I don’t need the valet service,” as she walked to her car. Which begs the question, how much service is too much.  There’s a difference between a well thought out plan that targets customers based on understanding their needs and lifestyles and creating unnecessary bells and whistles. 

Do retailers have to be careful not to go overboard in trying to win customers? How do they go about striking the right balance?

“We had wanted to be in Manhattan for awhile, were in the right financial position and the mall had just been remolded,” said Pete Sadler, JC Penny district manager. Known for “being fashion and price conscious,” Manhattan is an unlikely location for the retailer, however the retail landscape of the Big Apple is changing. We reported earlier that retailers like Brooks Brothers are being replaced with low-cost, high-style retailers like Britain’s TopShop. Although JC Penny “is pulling out all stops in terms of displays, advertising and in-store variety to bolster it’s image from frumpy to more fabulous,” it’s still a solidly middle-market department store. What does this say about the long-term impact of the recession on shopper tastes and behavior?

In this month’s DDI magazine, Paco Underhill states definitively “that we are never bouncing back.” What do you think?

Big box retailers like Circuit City, Linens n’ Things and Home Depot have vacated mammoth properties, some as large as 103,000 square feet. The LA Times’ James McPherson paints a daunting picture of the communities faced with lost tax revenue and huge facilities that attract vagrants and vandalism. The question becomes what could possibly fill such large, often windowless spaces and will they be able to replace the lost tax revenue.  Uses for the abandoned buildings have included office space, an indoor racetrack, museums, hospitals and even a church.

At Huffington Post, Steve Rosenbaum documents the materialization of retail vacancies on the streets of New York. There, some of the city’s landmark big box stores are closing, making the state of things ever more apparent.

Provided that these vacancies will exist for a while, when the economy does rebound, what could be a viable alternative for buildings this large? The remaining retailers are experimenting with smaller footprints, like Walmart’s Fresh Market. Malls are in peril and shoppers have expressed fatigue with the big box, sterile white shopping environment. Is this the end of an era? Is the supercenter, mall or mega shopping complex gone forever?