NEW YORK (AP) - JC Penney Co. said Tuesday it will open Sephora stores within its department stores starting this fall, under an agreement with the high-end cosmetics retailer aimed at luring young female customers.Sephora will open "store-within-stores" and be the exclusive seller of beauty products in JCPenney, which has been trying to shed its image as a middle-market department store operator with younger, more modern merchandise and marketing.
Sephora, which is owned by Paris-based luxury goods maker LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, operates more than 500 stores worldwide selling high-end cosmetics, perfume and other beauty products from different brands.
Under the agreement, each JC Penney Sephora will be located in the department store center and feature the display cases and trained salespeople who work in standalone Sephora stores.Sephora will also be the exclusive online beauty products seller on Penney's Web site through a link to its store from Sephora.com from JCP.com, which recently posted $1 billion in annual revenue.
JC Penney said the agreement with Sephora reflected its strategy of reaching out to young women, which represents a "significant and rapidly growing factor."
That's an odd combination, I think.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wise move for JCPenney. Sephora's standalone stores have proven to be major draws.
ReplyDeleteFor the whole nation?
ReplyDeleteWow.
All I have to say is YAAAAAYYYY!! I couldn't be more excited!!! Now I'll only have to drive 5 minutes to buy my favorite make-up!!
ReplyDeletecant_not: On the surface it seems odd, but really it makes good sense. Sephora offers vendor sourcing that JCPenney could never get on its own, and JCPenney provides relatively cheap real estate in some of the best shopping areas in the country.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting to see what the final execution will look like, but it should be alright.
Mitch: I know I'll buy things at Sephora for the convenience and the exclusivity, so it would be a great reason to go to my local Penney's to grab the same things. They carry this stuff i use on ingrown hairs called tend Skin that is hard to get otherwise. in stores.
Weill: Yep, the whole country. JCPenney and Sephora's parent LMVH (which also owns Louis Vuitton) have the resources to make this a really big deal.
Carrie: I hope they do a good job with this, too. My typical 3 hour ride to Sephora could be cut to 25 minutes if they land at my local JCPenney!