JCPenney to roll out several new brands; open 20,000-sq.-ft. in-store home shop

NEWYORK — JCPenney executives laid out further details of their strategy going forward during the chain’s quarterly conference call with investors. The call followed the release of JCPenney’s first quarter results, when it reported a worse-then-expected loss of $163 million, and a 19% drop in same-store sales.



JCPenney said it would launch a new private label apparel brand, jcp, for both men and women. The brand is set to debut in August.



In addition, JCPenney said it will debut several brands in the fall, including a line for young girls, called Dream Pop by Cynthia R. It also will roll out branded collections from designers Betsey Johnson, Vivienne Tam and Lulu Guiness. JCPenney is also looking to expand such brands as Puma and Nike, and rebuild its St. John's Bay, Worthington and Stafford brands.



In other plans, the retailer in the first half of 2013 will launch a 20,000-sq.-ft. home department, which will be anchored by the Martha Stewart shop, according to Advertising Age. Collections by designers Jonathan Adler and Michael Graves (whose partnership with Target recently ended) will be represented in the new space, the report said.