Madden signs deal with JCPenney
By Carole Sloan -- Furniture Today, August 3, 2003
Plano, Texas — Home furnishings design guru Chris Madden has signed on as the national spokesperson for the $1 billion-plus JCPenney Home Collection brand.
Madden will represent the JCPenney Home brand in marketing efforts and also "will bring strong creative direction and trend insight to our brand," said Charles Chinni, executive vice president and general merchandise manager for home, fine jewelry and family footwear.
Also planned, he added, is a JCPenney Home Collection by Chris Madden that will embrace all home categories from furniture, rugs, bed, bath and window coverings to lamps, accessories and housewares. While a timetable hasn't been set for a product rollout, the earliest would be spring 2004, and possibly later in the year.
"Furniture is very important to this program. We've managed now to get this ship running right," Chinni said.
As for rugs, he admitted, "We're not a very good rug store. We need real help in this area and in lamps and accessories."
Home textiles, a Penney strength, also will benefit from her involvement, he said.
Madden-influenced product will hit the selling floors this fall, primarily in color palettes at first, Chinni added. Spring '04 will reflect a major input on her part, he added.
"Chris will add style, fashion and coordination opportunities," he said. "We do the basics very well but we need an assist in fashion and the knowledge of what customers need and want. Chris will bring our trusted brand to a new level — a major decorator line."
As a result of the Penney alliance, Madden has limited her relationship with Bassett Furniture, where she has served as a spokeswoman and has a licensed line of case goods and upholstery. Her furniture now will be distributed only through Bassett Furniture Direct stores, not through other Bassett dealers. She said she also has terminated her license agreements with Mohawk for rugs, pillows and throws, and Austin for candles.
"My goal is to make JCPenney the place of choice to buy home furnishings," she said.
Her efforts will be aimed at the retail, catalog and Internet distribution channels, Chinni said. Madden said she will be "a live voice, both on TV and in print."
"This program relates to the message I've been talking about for the last 10 years — demystifying the design process," she said. "I want to be able to walk customers through JCPenney to buy all their home furnishings."
Madden, who has written 15 design and lifestyle books, has a television show and newspaper column, both called "Interiors by Design."
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