J. C. Penney Co., Inc. (JCP) Monday announced the launch of Claiborne and Liz Claiborne branded merchandise by apparel and accessories retailer, Liz Claiborne Inc. (LIZ), in its more than 1,100 stores and jcp.com. Claiborne men's and Liz Claiborne women's merchandise will begin rolling out this month. Liz Claiborne home merchandise will join the Plano, Texas-based department store operator's assortment in January 2011.
Under the strategic deal with J.C. Penney, New York-based Liz Claiborne will be responsible for designing the merchandise and J. C. Penney will source, merchandise and market the brand. The brand will fall into J.C. Penney's "better" and "best" pricing tiers.
J. C. Penney said that Liz Claiborne will be presented as a full lifestyle collection across about 30 categories, including women's and men's apparel, home and accessories, with more accessible prices than before. The collection also includes handbags, fashion jewelry, watches, sleepwear, outerwear, swimwear and accessories for women, and casual sportswear, suits, suited separates, sleepwear, outerwear, footwear and accessories for men. J.C. Penney will also present cohesive and focused Liz Claiborne and Claiborne statements on the selling floor as well as on jcp.com.
According to J. C. Penney, the launch will make it the exclusive department store for all Liz Claiborne and Claiborne branded merchandise in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The company also said it found in a recent brand awareness study that customers have a high likelihood to purchase Liz Claiborne and recommend the brand to family and friends. The brand also received higher total awareness scores than any other brand of women's apparel.
In 2007, J.C. Penney had launched Liz&Co. and Concepts by Claiborne brands. The company has discontinued these brands due to the exclusive introduction of the Liz Claiborne and Claiborne brands.
JCP is trading at $21.65, down $0.16 or 0.73%, on a volume of 1.9 million shares.
LIZ rose $0.16 or 2.96% and is trading at $5.57, on a volume of 741,110 shares.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com