Dive Brief:
- J.C. Penney is expanding its home goods offerings with two partnerships, the retailer announced Thursday.
- The retailer teamed up with Jenny Martinez, a chef and TikTok content creator, to expand her kitchen collection into bedding, bath and other home goods inspired by her hometown of Chapala, Mexico.
- The retailer is also bringing Laura Ashley’s home line into stores. The collection, which has been available online for several years, features bedding and bath essentials reminiscent of the British countryside aesthetic.
Dive Insight:
The expansion of J.C. Penney’s partnerships with Jenny Martinez and Laura Ashley continues the retailer’s collaboration streak.
Last year, the company rolled out clothing collections in collaboration with model Ashley Graham, designer Rebecca Minkoff and designer Bob Mackie. Now the retailer is building on “compelling momentum” in its home business last year to build out those offerings further.
With its newest home goods collections, J.C. Penney is aiming to bring “unique personality and trendy styles to the home at accessible price points,” the company said in an email on the announcement. “Together, these collections, alongside JCPenney's houseware and private label offerings, demonstrate the retailer's unique ability to blend quality, value and style, offering customers the tools to transform their house into a home.”
One of those private labels, Linden Street, launched in 2020 featuring bedding and sheets priced between $40 and $220. The newer collections also emphasize affordability alongside style.
J.C. Penney has been diversifying its offerings amid declining sales. The company reported a 3.8% drop in net sales in Q3 to $1.4 billion. Its gross margins also fell slightly from 38.7% a year ago to 38%, though its beauty, home and children’s categories grew in the quarter. The department store ended the quarter with a $100 million net loss.
J.C. Penney also failed to offload some of its real estate recently. Private equity firm Onyx Partners planned to acquire 119 J.C. Penney locations for $947 million, but after a series of delays the deal fell through in December.
