JCPenney Salon in Asheville, NC

So I had some Groupon points near expiration and I was at a loss of what to buy. Until I saw a pet portrait for JCP on there. For $15. That's exactly what I had. It included a photo shoot and one digital and physical print. Sold.

I made an appointment and then called. They offered same day. They had A lot of appointments actually. Super smooth. Nice person who chatted with me.

Easy to park in garage and straight shot into JCP. Difficult to find the portrait studio tho. Go up the stairs and to the back left. Very hidden. And two staff directed me wrong.

I was on time but left waiting like 15 mins because of a family finishing up. Not ideal with a cat in a bag.... Literally. Maybe with pet portraits but a little more aware of time and such. The family children were also screaming. To be fair, probs not a lot of cats coming in here. So that's a good thing to keep in mind.

The person taking my photos was professional and sweet. Not a whole lot of awareness- ex she tried to use giant sleighbells to get my cats attention. He almost pooped his fur. She also got so confused when I asked for a 90s or v day theme background stating "what about blue"? To be fair, I was kinda taking this whole thing as a joke. And it's her job. And she took it seriously. And I respect that. Overall she was so patient and gave great pose ideas.

Actually now thinking more, I hope she didn't think I was rude. I was a little stressed about my cat in there. He was v stressed. Thankfully, the whole process only took about an hour including driving. And she was quite understanding about timing and listening to my Feedback/ideas. Not sure I would recommend this for cats. Definitely going to be a once in a lifetime thing.

Make sure to read the fine print for it all. I tried to get out of the physical print as it was $10 shipping (and the same as the digital) but she couldn't do that. I get it- im sure they have a ton of rules. And now it's hanging in my living room to scare of all my potential future dates.

I was emailed a link to my photos I marked as favs in studio post session even tho I didn't pay extra. Not sure if that was on purpose but I took screenshots. Not the best quality but dang. I wasn't expecting all these gems.

Honestly for $10 (plus the $15) this was priceless. Happy Valentine's Day from a single gal and her kitty cat.

To start, this is a complaint for their portrait studio. I can't find a separate option for them, so here will do.

When we first walked up, the photographer was laying on the bench in front of the studio. We ignored him because we thought he was a bum and talked to the woman at the computer.

When we got into the room, it felt as though *I* was the one that had to direct things. He didn't know what kind of poses we should do, didn't guide us in which way to look or how to stand or really anything. I went through what props they had, because he really felt just directionless. It also felt like he was getting as many filler pictures as he could--it was clear we were not ready in a few instances (he called these "silly" and apparently loved them) but he would snap a shot then lean back and go "well we're up to (amount of pictures taken) now, so we should be almost done". He felt very unprofessional, and I couldn't help but be envious when another group went in with the female photographer and you could just HEAR that they were having fun and enjoying the moment.

Pretty disappointed for the amount of money spent and the attitude we got. This was supposed to be a big gift for us but we were eager to just deal with it and get out as soon as we could.

The ladies in Winows/Custom Drapery and the Catalog PickUp are fabulous.

Gave me directions, talked to me about the town, found my receipts without complaining; reordered the product and they genuinely like what they are doing and it shows.

A department store....noooooooootttttttttttt local