On Sunday, J.C. Penney partnered up with the University of New Mexico’s Career Services department to host their third communal “Suit Up!” event at Coronado Mall.
The event is designed to provide discounts on business and professional attire for UNM’s students, alumni, faculty and staff.
The event began in the fall of 2017 with Jenna Crabb, director of career services, who has held the position since 2006. Crabb was approached by executives from the department store with the idea and she agreed to it.
“It was an amazing opportunity,” Crabb said. “It is our job and passion to help our students any way we can, and so far, this event has been instrumental in reaching more of them.”
Crabb said that professional attire is salient in the workplace, and J.C. Penney offering 40 percent off so many items helps students buy clothes they potentially couldn’t have otherwise.
“We are the first university to host such an event,” Crabb said. “We had over 500 people during our first event, close to 600 at our last one, and we expect more this time.”
Crabb said the idea has been so successful that New Mexico State University has recently established their first such event with J.C. Penney.
The department store benefits from this event too. Vandelise Montague has been with the company for 22 years and has been the store manager at the Coronado Mall location since November of 2017.
“There’s not really a downside to this partnership — it’s been a win-win situation,” she said. “We improve our sales and awareness, and at the same time we are helping students obtain the clothes they need to succeed.”
Montague was there for the springtime event and has made a change to the process that she said should continue to benefit the UNM community — those who participated in this event received an additional 20 percent coupon to be used in the future.
Among the Lobos, there was Jesse Pecoraro, a second-year law student shopping for a suit.
Pecoraro works for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque.
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“I need more suits for this job,” he said. “We’re in court a lot of the time and you need to look presentable for many different reasons.”
David Mueller is a UNM alumni who graduated last semester with a master’s degree in petroleum geology. Mueller has been to all three events, noticing a steady increase in participation each time.
“The first one seemed a little small, at least when I was there,” he said. “But this time I can really see the growth.”
Cory Muñoz and Erica Krause-Muñoz are a married couple with different ties to UNM. Cory works as the admissions and recruitment specialist for UNM’s school of law and Erica earned her bachelor's in mass communications in 2010.
“We easily saved over one hundred dollars our first time here,” Erica said.
Cory said this is a huge opportunity for recent graduates, and he thinks that everyone who can go to the next one should.
Derek Olsen is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted by email at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Derek_Olsen2117.
