Clothing is a massive issue for J.C. Penney. In particular, the assortment and the way in which it is merchandised has been off-pitch for years. Authentic Brands can play a role in helping to refine this and bringing newness to the offer. However before this happens, J.C. Penney needs to go back to fundamentals: who is the customer, what do they want, and how can J.C. Penney meet their needs in a unique and compelling way? Once these things have been answered, then a range revamp can begin. What J.C. Penney does not need is a lot of random brands shoved into the store and online. Discipline and curation are the watchwords for success!

J.C. Penney’s problems still remain: no consistent vision of who their customer is, the value proposition, the need for big stores, a branded customer experience, a website that is compelling, etc. I don’t see adding more SWS as a fix but a tool. Who’s in charge and where’s the vision? After two years we’re still not seeing it from the top.

Merchandise is one problem — but only one. There is much more that needs to be done. And while there’s no doubt that having access to some of the brands ABG offers could be an interesting proposition, offering new brands alone won’t be enough. It will be very interesting to see what Simon and Brookfield do with J.C. Penney – the world is watching.

I do not know if this will salvage J.C. Penney or not. Many other department stores sell name brands as well but I think it is more about being relevant in the market – what about the test store with a lot of new fresh ideas? When will that happen? I think the addition of brands could layer on top of that. But just adding brands alone? I just don’t know if that will bring throngs of shoppers to their stores.

The bigger issue in my opinion for J.C. Penney is the store’s brand. A refresh of products and brands in the store can certainly help to change perception in the marketplace, but it takes time for potential customers to believe that the store is different and that the change is “real.”
The other question that needs an answer, 20 or so years Ron Johnson introduced a number of changes to assortment and promotional strategy in an attempt to refresh the brand and attract younger customers. We all know that resulted in the alienation of their core customer — the impact of that decision is at the core of their issues today. They have a fine line to walk here to reposition themselves and grow market share.

I think “verticalization” is the future of the mall. I don’t see a problem with a combination of brands and private label within the store, as I expect that to become what the mall looks like as well.

J.C. Penney needs a strategy first. Who will be its target market, what unique positioning can it own within its target market, who is it competing with, etc.? These are fundamental issues that need to be dealt with before any branding decisions are made. No doubt J.C. Penney is struggling and Authentic Brands could be a life saver, but only after the larger strategic issues are addressed.

Sure, ABG has some interesting brands that would lift J.C. Penney’s profile — a little. Macy’s has a portfolio of great brands and yet they struggle also. The whole department store shopping experience has to evolve beyond swapping out some tired brands for newer, “better” brands. ABG can help with a couple of the first moves on the chess board, but it’s still a long complicated game after that.

J.C. Penney’s merchandising model has been built for years on its own private and exclusive labels, but it has been guilty of over-assortment and duplication among these brands. Is there room for more national brands inside J.C. Penney, especially if they are moderately priced and not carried by either Macy’s or Kohl’s? The answer is probably yes, but only if J.C. Penney cleans house first instead of adding product on top of more product.

Yes! Apparel is a significant issue for J.C. Penney! Their assortment has not held much appeal for shoppers for some time and there hasn’t been much visible movement to improve this situation to draw in new customers. There is a good opportunity for ABG to deliver fresh brands to J.C. Penney that may appeal to a new customer demographic. Could this be the savior J.C. Penney needs? Possibly, it isn’t the only challenge but it is a good start to instituting real change and could lead to a new definition of what a department store shopping experience could become. That said, throwing every ABG brand into the store isn’t automatically the best answer – J.C. Penney needs to decide who their target customer is and what that customer wants. Then they can look at that target through the lens of ABG’s family of brands.

Certainly the merchandise carried by J.C. Penney is an issue, but so is the brand itself. It’s tired and bland, and it changes so much it’s hard to determine what you will find inside the store.

The brand has a bad perception. You can put whatever you like inside, but that won’t change the fact that the stores are perceived as old and tired. This isn’t a quick fix. If J.C. Penney wants to attract young consumers it needs an entire “take another look” campaign with deep pockets.

There is definitely a consensus in today’s comment thread: J.C. Penney is a brand that has lost its way and its soul. In the absence of a clearly articulated and executed brand promise, inclusive of knowing who the customer is and compelling reasons to shop there, I’m afraid the company will soon be the next Sears.

Getting the brand off life support will require bold thinking — an entire re-imagining of what this retailer is and how it will effectively compete in today’s retail environment. Simon and Brookfield, more than anyone, have a vested interest in making it happen. The question is, do they have the courage and the time to pull it off?

ABG has a number of still well-loved brands in its portfolio, brands that failed based more on leadership than product. Enter Jamie Salter. Injecting fashion, volume-driven brands like Nine West, Forever 21, and others into J.C. Penney flips the switch from dreary product to a portfolio of proven mainstream, fashion relevant products missing from the marketplace for too long. The ABG brand list, with more brands on the way, reads like the brand list of a major specialty retailer providing well-proven, appealing, price point oriented fashion brands giving J.C. Penney a chance to reinvent itself. Key to J.C. Penney’s reinvention will be leveraging online shopping, along with stripping away the very dreary J.C. Penney store interiors. A big lift for J.C. Penney and ABG. As a side note, I believe Jamie Salter is a retail visionary. Picking up the scraps of mismanaged brands, each brand still relevant in the minds of consumers who still miss the brand. Merchandised and assorted properly, newly re-discovered ABG brands will fill the void of the lost mainstream fashion aesthetic.

Authentic Brands smacks of Ascena to me. What makes them think that they can turn all these distressed brands around — their history of doing that (none)? I don’t mean to be Joe Bummer on this but it would help if they had the resume of say, Les Wexner or even Bezos rather than folks that see turnaround and flip as the way forward instead of smart retailing. I guess we shall see, but taking stock in dinosaur brands for anything but a quick buck doesn’t seem like a good strategy to me. Simon has to or they’re dead, but these guys? Take a close look at that gift horse.

This combining of brands feels like the way malls are heading, so that should be a good thing. The bigger issue, in my mind, is if the Authentic Brands Group deal would be enough to make J.C. Penney relevant again…

It all starts with “who is our target customer(s),” and “what do they want to buy?” Starting with the brands available to a renewed J.C. Penney and “what do we want to sell?” is backwards. Unless JCP wants to be a small mall with a diverse set of stuff inside, (and I doubt they can outcompete either Amazon or the full mall for that), some of the brands under discussion don’t appeal to the same target customer. Identifying and locking on to a target customer group that is ideally consistent with the traditional JCP customer if at all possible and then building out an assortment are the first two steps along this journey.

The single most foolish thing the investors should try to do is resurrect JCP. A strategic alliance with Authentic Brands will help the investors in their cash flow pursuit and the financial strategy that they set out.

But the idea of turning JCP around or establishing it as a unique location for fashion is a discussion that should end with the comment “no way.” Don’t put millions more into this. Don’t put nickels into this. The obituaries for JCP are just waiting to be printed.

JCP is not known for the younger customer crowds and most young people don’t have the discretionary funds anyway to buy expensive clothing or merchandise.

This would only work under new branding — can’t keep operating as JCP. They will need something attractive that leverages some of their exciting celebrity relations and especially Sports Illustrated. They’ll need clarity about the market they wish to target and then build in either a store-in-store concept like the beauty brands, or something external like an outlet/rack/etc.

It would be interesting to see a JCP mini-mall with a Brooks Bros, Sports Authority, Nautica and Aeropostale. Not sure they can pull this off with the current numbers, but they now have some real firepower and cash reserves with the arrangement and supporting companies with ABG.

The core consumer demographic that currently shops at J.C. Penney would never describe the retailer as “fashion destination.” To attempt this route, would alienate any remaining loyal customers and instead of elevating the Penney brand, it would erode the values of brands like Brooks Brothers and Lucky.

As a brand, J.C. Penney needs to redefine it’s positioning and adding better known brands to its aisles is short-sighted — not to mention the loss of value to the brands.