JC Penney Express to open outlet in South Tahoe

By Kathryn Reed

JC Penney is coming to South Lake Tahoe – sort of.

The national retailer is launching JCP Express – an answer to dying catalog sales and demand for online purchases.

“A national transformation for JC Penney is going on. We will be like a department store for them minus the inventory,” explained Dave Newell, owner of Blue Lake Flooring and Paint in South Lake Tahoe.

The service will be available this summer. Newell learned last week his store on James Avenue will be the headquarters for the Lake Tahoe Basin version of the program.

Gone is the catalog service like what Ace Hardware used to do.

People will be able to order any JC Penney merchandise from Newell’s store or online from home/work, then have it shipped to his store. This saves people the expense of shipping it to their house.

Newell foresees this program as a boon for second homeowners who buy something at the retailer but don’t want to haul it to Lake Tahoe. For locals it means free shipping.

Payments will be able to be made at the South Tahoe outlet and returns will also be handled there.