An expansion into home services is being planned by J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) with about six programs expected to be tried out in 100 stores. This will allow customers walking into a J.C. Penney store to do their shopping, get personal services such as a haircut and also make an arrangement for a bathroom remodeling consultation, for instance, in a single trip.

The new strategy is expected to be rolled out later in the month. Some of the additional services the retailer will offer include smart home technology, home water solutions, home cooling systems, home heating systems and bathroom remodeling.

$300 billion market

In an interview with CNBC the chief executive officer of J.C. Penney, Marvin Ellison, said that this segment of the market was worth about $300 billion and the department store had the opportunity to get a slice of it. Prior to joining J.C. Penney two years ago, Ellison worked at Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), a home improvement retailer.

Though brick-and-mortar stores are facing tough times, retailers in the home improvement sector such as Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) and Home Depot have been flourishing as sales rise quarter after quarter. With about 70% of J.C Penney’s customer base being homeowners, the department store is hoping to capture a portion of this market segment.

While the new strategy might give the impression of a retailer overextending itself beyond its core strengths, J.C. Penney’s chief executive denied that this is the case.

“If you go back on the timeline, J.C. Penney actually served a lot of these products and services at one time in our history,” said Ellison.

Success in the appliance business re-entry

Over a year ago, the department store went into the appliance business where around 500 showrooms were rolled out. Last year, the category was one of the best performing for the retailer. This was after having stopped selling appliances for more than 30 years. In an earnings call for the fourth quarter, Ellison disclosed that a significant portion of sales growth and improvement in productivity was being driven by appliances.

In Thursday’s trading session, shares of J C Penney Company Inc rose by 0.96% to close the day at $6.30 a share.