With the Sephora relationship winding down, JCPenney has unveiled its plans for beauty: a new inclusive in-store and online experience with a merchandising mix of mass, masstige, and prestige products, with a debut in select retail locations and on jcp.com in October 2021, a nationwide store rollout slated for all 2022, and an expansion continuing through 2023.
At JCPenney, our customers inspire everything we do. That's why this new evolution of our beauty offering was created with them in mind," says Michelle Wlazlo, Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer, JCPenney. "Recognizing that each customer is uniquely beautiful, we designed JCPenney Beauty to be a hyper-inclusive experience where everyone shines. We've partnered with like-minded beauty brands to bring this vision to life and ensure everyone is represented.
The new beauty concept will launch with a shop-in-shop experience in partnership with Thirteen Lune, consisting of 30 brands created by founders of color and allies across skincare, hair, and other product categories. Thirteen Lune was founded by two advocates for retail inclusivity, Nyakio Grieco and Patrick Herning, last December. Thirteen Lune is a revolutionary beauty and wellness e-commerce platform designed to inspire the discovery of beauty brands created by Black and Brown founders that resonate with people of all backgrounds. The partnership with JCPenney will be its first step into brick-and-mortar.
Thirteen Lune's presence within one of the country's longest standing retailers is profound on many levels. Our brick and mortar footprint inside the visionary, hyper-inclusive JCPenney Beauty space will bring a beautifully curated assortment of brands from both Black and Brown founders and ally brands who are dedicated to creating lasting change in beauty," Grieco remarked. "Together with JCPenney, we are able to reach so many more consumers with our inclusive beauty mission and product assortment, empowering them to see themselves reflected in our curation and dedication to uplifting our diverse offering of founders.
The JCPenney Beauty concept was informed by consumer research conducted to understand what beauty shopping experience its customers wanted, and which incorporated those learnings into its floor plan, product assortment, and beauty experts. The aim is to provide beauty options that serve the needs of every demographic. The new beauty space will include an open-concept floor plan, crisp clean paint, and natural wood tone accents staffed by knowledgeable sales associates, specially trained to service all skin tones and hair textures.
JCPenney's new strategy aims to be a "one-stop shopping" experience in beauty as it transitions out of the Sephora partnership that launched in 2006 and will end in the fourth quarter of 2022. Currently, around 600 Sephora shops are operating inside JCPenney locations.
The JCPenney and Thirteen Lune partnership is founded on a joint commitment to amplify diverse and inclusive beauty brands and create an innovative retail platform that showcases and introduces diverse brands to a wider audience.
