JCPenney signals stability with move back into old Plano headquarters (2024)

PLANO — JCPenney has moved back into its former headquarters in Plano and the permanent sign at the Legacy Drive entrance says JCPenney again.

The retailer was one of the first companies to identify Plano as a corporate headquarters city when it decided to leave New York in 1987. It built the sprawling campus at 6501 Legacy Drive and moved in in 1992.

Until the pandemic and the retailer’s bankruptcy filing in 2020, JCPenney had occupied the building for 28 years and the return this month is more than symbolic. JCPenney was able to reject the lease as part of its court-led reorganization while the corporate headquarters staff went fully remote during the pandemic.

Asked about how the move back helps JCPenney with its employee retention and hiring, Andre Joyner, chief human resources officer, said employees have a dedicated space for “teaming, collaboration and connection.”

A permanent office space conveys stability to employees and future hires that the organization has made a commitment to them, said Jim DePaul, executive vice president of stores at JCPenney. It operates 650 stores and has been privately held since late 2020 when its two largest mall landlords purchased the retailer out of bankruptcy.

“This isn’t temporary space. It’s our corporate headquarters,” DePaul said. “It removes uncertainty people may have had and lifts morale for us and the external community in Plano.”

About 2,000 employees occupy 320,000 square feet in the building that the retailer built with proceeds of the sale of its Manhattan headquarters. A majority of the returning employees had worked in the space before the pandemic, Joyner said.

The return is also a strong signal of stability to vendors and suppliers, DePaul said. Penney invited more than 200 suppliers to its new office this week for a “vendor summit.”

The new space is on the north side of the building and occupies three floors along a corridor leading from one of the building’s signature rotundas. A photo of founder James Cash Penney and a timeline of the company’s history is along one hallway.

Commercial Capital Investments of Austin has owned the building since 2021 and has “made a commitment to this facility and spent money to upgrade it,” DePaul said. The onsite daycare center was already there, but other amenities were added, including outdoor pickleball courts, an arcade, a fitness center and a golf simulator.

To mark the return, JCPenney officials invited local officials including Plano City Council members to a ribbon-cutting with the employees crowding along the corridor and balconies wearing their red JCPenney T-shirts.

While it has a new office, JCPenney has decided not to have a return to office policy, Joyner said.

“We’ve taken the approach that we’re going to empower the workforce. We’re going to work off our guiding principles. We’re going to ask our teams to determine when it makes sense to come together to collaborate and when being together matters for the work to get done.

“That’s worked well for us so far,” Joyner said, adding that about 75% of the staff is in the office on any given day.

Everyone doesn’t have a desk, but there are open spaces, conference rooms and areas that can be reserved, Joyner said.

“We want to encourage natural collisions and unplanned moments,” he said. “We want to be less scripted and specific and more open and collaborative.”

The intent of the office layout is to support the new work environment, DePaul said. Technology has been upgraded for easier remote meetings.

Twitter: @MariaHalkias

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