Department store retailer JCPenney is moving ahead with its plans for a Plano-located headquarters.
This May, JCPenney announced to its employees the plan to move its headquarters back to the Plano location, which it originally built in 1992. The company had moved operations out of the headquarters early in 2020.
Last year, the JCPenney campus at the Legacy business park was sold to Capital Commercial Investments, who are repurposing the property into a multi-tenant building called CalWest.
The relocation of JCPenney’s headquarters is taking place at a time when the retailer is starting to perform better financially, especially after a pandemic that forced it to close its stores and declare bankruptcy.
The company did not go under like other retailers such as Barneys, Lord & Taylor, or Century 21, although it is notable that the latter two are also making comebacks.
Competition in the retail market is already fierce. As Erin Schmidt, a senior analyst at Coresight Research, explained, “The future is going to be a challenging one because it’s difficult for department stores to navigate, even under the best circumstances.”
Since CEO Mark Rosen joined the retailer late last year, there have been many changes at JCPenney that extend beyond the home office location. Rosen aims for a large-scale transformation of the brand to attract middle-class American shoppers by improving relevance.
To this end, Rosen has named several new top executives of the company, including a new chief marketing officer.
To better steer the ship at a time when the financial outlook is good but not great — JCPenney stock is still continuing to go down, with the earnings per share at -$0.84 — bringing corporate employees together under one roof is an important step.
Since the pandemic, about 2,000 people have been working from home and at two other locations.
“Those of you who are returning to this office may be wondering why. Simply put, circumstances have changed,” Rosen told them.
Yet before JCPenney’s employees return to in-person office work at CalWest, the building will have to undergo renovations. These renovations are expected to cost over $10 million. By next spring, renovations should be complete and ready for employees.
Dallas-based architecture firm Corgan was hired as the designer. The offices will total over 220,000 square feet. The entire Legacy business park campus is 1.8 million square feet.
