Penningtons: Empowering Plus-Size Women Through Fashion

About Penningtons: A Trailblazer in Plus-Size Fashion

Penningtons is a leader in the plus-size women’s fashion market in Canada and are a banner under Reitman’s Canada Limited.  They are committed to be the customer’s partner and advocate for body diversity and size acceptance. They want to showcase the customers sense of style, encourage her to be fearless, and give her the opportunity to show society that willingness, capability and drive are blind to prejudice. Pennington’s strives to empower women to embrace fashion as a form of self-celebration with fit expertise tailored to compliment her curves; runway-inspired trends; and unparalleled value. From denim to lingerie, sportswear to activewear, seasonal wear and more; their customer can shop in any of their 135 locations or online for an experience that caters to her needs, interests, and lifestyle. (https://www.penningtons.com/en/about-us.html) You have been approved by the RCL team to work with them to scout a potential site for a new location in the Cambridge area.  Penningtons previously had a location at 600 Hespeler Road and a location at 500 Wilson Ave, Kitchener.

For this meeting you will need to produce an executive summary (single page) and map (second page) that will clearly support your desire to locate in the City of Cambridge, and highlight a potential location site for the RCL real-estate team to review. You may also include comparative reports from PiinPoint to support your research.

 

When putting your executive summary together include the following: 

 

1. Research the City of Cambridge and validate why it could be a great location to re-open Penningtons. Explore what new developments the area is expecting and how that will impact the proposed location.

 

2. Clearly define the target customer of Penningtons and support with data from existing locations. Include Population counts and other demographic statistics for the current location area. (Does your target market live in the area and what is the percentage? Will customers be willing to travel to your store and be able to do so conveniently?) Relevant consumer expenditure statistics for the target market in that area. What is the actual spend on the goods/services related to your offering?

 

3. Identify a potential retail location site in the city of Cambridge that the company (RCL) would consider as a new Pennington store location with validation as to why this proposed site was chosen. Include an analysis of the population surrounding your proposed site relative to the population and its alignment with the Penningtons target customer.  Include automotive and /or pedestrian traffic counts for the proposed area and transit Routes. Include the factors defining trade areas as validation of your choice. (Accessibility, natural & physical barriers, type & size of shopping area, type of store/s in area, competition, labour availability, accessibility to distribution and transportation)

 

4. Pull together a map of the proposed location, and the location of direct competitors. Map should be in colour to better distinguish the various components and clearly labeled.

 

Use PiinPoint software to support your analysis.  Use a 1, 3 and 5 Km radius as your potential trading areas around the proposed sites.  PiinPoint can also be used to generate an effective map to support location choice.  For full access to PiinPoint be sure to login from Conestoga Library Services and use your eConestoga login.