On a recent, sticky August afternoon, Lionel Richie stepped onto the second-floor landing of the rotunda in J.C. Penney’s corporate headquarters in Plano, Tex., and surveyed its employees gathered above and below him. Microphone in hand, he bellowed: “My people!”

Mr. Richie is a four-time Grammy winner, with over 100 million records sold, so he counts a lot of people as “his” people. Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers danced with him during his “Brick House” days with the Commodores, then swayed to his “Endless Love” serenades when he went solo. Younger fans may know him as a judge on “American Idol,” or as father to Nicole, Miles and Sofia.

Now, he has the undivided attention of a new fan: J.C. Penney, the struggling department store where Mr. Richie is introducing his new home goods collection.

That’s right. Lionel Richie, the 69-year-old multiplatinum singer-songwriter, is debuting a line of sheets and towels, which will be available in stores beginning Sept. 7. With his entourage and a camera crew in tow, he made a three-hour stop at the J.C. Penney campus, where he tried to excite the sellers of his black satin comforters and gold-embroidered pillowcases by, among other things, handing out two bouquets of roses and crashing a meeting of the board of directors.