Last October when Joe Fresh announced plans to open six new locations (four permanent/two temporary) in the New York metropolitan area, reactions from the RetailWire community were largely favorable.
BrainTrust member Fabien Tiburce said, "Joe Fresh has done something few can: it sells fashion to fashionistas and 'regular' folks (like yours truly) alike. Joe Fresh is neither 'intimidating' nor overpriced and yet my wife and her girlfriends swear by it. And guess what? I now have two pairs of Joe Fresh jeans, three shirts, etc. I am bullish on Joe Fresh accessible fashion at affordable prices."
Joe Fresh fans will be happy to hear that the Canadian brand owned by Loblaw is about to become widely available in the U.S. through branded shops planned to open inside nearly 700 J.C. Penney stores.
Beginning in April of next year, the 1,000 to 2,500 square-foot shops designed by Joe Fresh will debut with women's apparel. Merchandise will also be available on Penney's website.
"This give[s] us instant access to the U.S. suburban market without taking on a lot of risk," Joe Mimran of Joseph Mimran & Associates and creative director, Joe Fresh for Loblaw Companies Limited, told the Toronto Star. "When you combine it with the reinvention of J.C. Penney, it makes it doubly exciting."
"We are so excited to announce the Joe Fresh brand as J.C. Penney's newest shop partner," said Penney CEO Ron Johnson, in a statement. "Displayed in its own unique and engaging environment, the Joe Fresh shops will be an important part of J.C. Penney's repositioning to a completely re-imagined department store."
Wendy Evans, president of Evans & Company, a retail consultancy in Toronto, told the Star, "To get this many stores this fast is a real vote of confidence on both sides. It's a really bold move for a Canadian brand retailer to make in the United States. I would go so far as to say it's the boldest."