JCP Unveils New Home Department

The addition of some 19,000-square-feet of branded home furnishing boutiques is the next step in the department store’s complete overhaul, which is being driven by chief executive officer Ron Johnson.

The process began in early 2012 with the unveiling of an updated logo and the launch of the first in-store brands shops, the first of which featured Izod, Liz Claiborne and The Original Arizona Jean Company.

The new home furnishings department will follow the same model, with around 20 branded shops ranging in size from 300- to 800-square-feet. Full roll out is expected for all 500 stores by the end of May, with the home section accounting for about 30 percent of each store.

Among the new shops at launch will be the Denmark-based kitchenware company Bodum, interior designer Jonathan Adler and the architect-turned-home-designer

JCP was planning to anchor its home area with the Martha Stewart lifestyle brand, but a continuing dispute with Macy’s over the rights to the brand means that JCP will only be able to feature two sub-lines–the party line MarthaCelebrations and a line of packaged foods called MarthaPantry–at launch, according to

The New York Times

.