Slumming it

JCPenney, welcome to Manhattan? The new Manhattan Mall store (33rd and 6th) had a soft opening earlier this week and will celebrate its grand opening on July 31st. The hype for the new JCP has been going strong for almost two years with much press and 3-story signage towering over Herald Square, but does anyone really care? I ventured into the store today (pathetically located on "Lower Level 1 and 2" of the mall) with promotional coupon in hand and more of an open mind than most Manhattanites will be able to muster, but found no reason to ever return except possibly for cheap bedding.

JCP does bring several notable designer discount collections into NYC for the first time, and the prices of these lines are obviously very attractive. However, despite my earlier enthusiasm I was unimpressed with the current season of I Heart Ronson by Charlotte Ronson, and Nicole by Nicole Miller misses the mark of playful sophistication brought by the designer's "real" collection and borders the line of "mom trying desperately to look young". There is also a Sephora inside the new JCPenneys, but anyone who's been trying to dub it as "full sized" is lying to you. This also makes me worry for the neighboring 34th Street location (b/w 6th and 7th) and question why they did massive renovations just a year ago. The layout of the new JCP as a whole is very awkward to navigate, and it's hard to tell where Penneys ends and Manhattan Mall begins. And this probably won't come as a surprise to anyone, but everyone in the store is obvi a tourist.

To think Arby's and the Manhattan Mall food court died to make room for THIS! So not worth it.