JCPenney’s beauty makeover is going chain-wide

Sephora’s shops inside of JCPenney stores are long gone with the beauty retailer having found a new home inside of Kohl’s. Penney, for its part, has moved on with a new “hyper-inclusive” beauty concept of its own that will be available at all the chain’s locations by next spring.

The department store retailer first began testing JCPenney Beauty shops inside 10 of its stores last October. It expects to have around 300 stores outfitted with the shops by early next year with the balance completed by the second quarter.

The shops will continue to build on Penney’s partnership with thirteen lune, an online destination for Black- and brown-owned beauty brands. Around 20 percent of JCPenney Beauty’s products will be connected to thirteen lune. The number of thirteen lune selected items in Penney’s beauty shops has more than doubled since the pilot last fall.

Penney, which lost some of the prestige brands sold in Sephora’s shops, has focused its Beauty shops on more “masstige” brands, which are both innovative and priced to appeal to a wider audience. The in-store shop concept, according to a press release, “celebrates its diverse customers’ unique selves by making inclusive beauty products widely accessible via assortment, availability, and price point.”

“Inclusivity is core to JCPenney. We exist to celebrate and serve America’s diverse, working families which is why we are leading the charge to foster beauty inclusivity on a national scale,” said Michelle Wlazlo, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, JCPenney, in a statement. “By creating a fully ownable beauty experience, JCPenney can quickly adapt and respond to our customers’ wants and needs. Last year’s preview launch allowed us to learn from our customers and evolve the JCPenney Beauty experience as it expands nationwide and online, making it unlike any other beauty retail experience.”

Penney is taking steps to introduce the concept to its customers even before shops are in place in local stores. The full JCPenney Beauty assortment is available for purchase on jcp.com. The online experience includes a virtual makeup try-on experience and a skincare quiz to help customers determine their individual product needs.

The retailer is counting on its rebranded in-store Salons to complement its beauty push. The shops provide a full integrated customer experience with more than 250 unique beauty brands ranging from value priced to prestige. Penney has added more than 60 BIPOC- and or female-founded brands since its pilot.

Source: RetailWire