Hundreds line up for Sephora at JCPenney

CEDAR RAPIDS - More than 300 people began lining up at 4 a.m. Friday outside Westdale for the grand opening of the Sephora store inside JCPenney.

Sephora, which started in Paris, France, is an internationally-known outlet for beauty and skin care products. Since 2006, Sephora has opened 518 locations inside JCPenney stores nationwide.

Nancy Andreasen of Cedar Rapids, who has been to the Sephora store in Coral Ridge Mall, waited in line to get one of the gift bags filled with samples given to the first 750 shoppers.

'My daughter just loves all the makeup that's at Sephora,” Andreasen said. 'We haven't had one in town and she's really excited about it. We like that it will be a lot closer and we won't have to drive to Coralville.”

The Sephora inside JCPenney's sports the company's trademark black and white color scheme. Barry Donovan, general manager of JCPenney's Westdale location, said the 3,000-square-foot store is the largest Sephora inside a JCPenney in the state of Iowa.

'Our Sephora is slightly smaller than the store at Coral Ridge Mall, but it carries all the products that generate 95 percent of Sephora's sales,” Donovan said. 'Our employees have been pumped for the last six months in anticipation of today's grand opening.”

Scott Hansen, JCPenney district manager with 21 stores in Iowa, northern Missouri and central Illinois, said the partnership with Sephora has been benefitted JCPenney.

'Sephora has done very well for JCPenney and we have expanded the format to best serve our clients and provide the assortment they are looking for,” Hansen said. 'We understand that all Cedar Rapids, and particularly the south side through North Liberty, have tended to go to Coral Ridge Mall. We think this will allow people who live in Cedar Rapids to be able to satisfy their needs here.”

Cedar Rapids City Councilman Justin Shields said the $3.5 million remodeling of the JCPenney store and the new Sephora store are a preview of what the former mall will look like when a $90 million redevelopment is completed.

'This is going to be a beautiful facility,” Shields said. 'John Frew (Frew Development Group) and his people are doing a great job redeveloping this property.

'I think today's turnout is an indication that there's a lot of support for Westdale in the community.”

Donovan said the interior and exterior remodeling of the JCPenney store is almost complete and a grand opening is planned for July. He said the store is preparing to hire about 80 seasonal employees, up from 55 last year due to the new Sephora outlet.

'We need to find those people who will have an emotional connection with our guests,” Donovan said.