J.C. Penney reveals future of in-store and online beauty offering

By

Robin Driver

Published
Sep 30, 2021

As department store chain J.C. Penney’s partnership with Sephora winds down, the company has unveiled new details about its upcoming J.C. Penney Beauty section, including brand assortment and launch dates.

 
According to the Texas-based department store operator, J.C. Penney Beauty will be an inclusive in-store and online experience catering to customers of all ages, genders, races, skin tones, hair types, beauty regimens and budgets.
 
The section will feature more than 170 beauty brands covering categories including makeup, skincare, haircare, styling tools, fragrance, nailcare, bath and body. Brands will range from well-established favorites like Skin Gym, Curlsmith, Alaffia, and OPI, to smaller indie labels and BIPOC-founded businesses.

J.C. Penney Beauty will serve as the exclusive retailer of makeup and fragrance brands including Makeup Geek, Mirabella, Wellfounded, Esscentials and Ron Dorff, and will also be the only brick-and-mortar store to carry products from labels such as I’m Meme, Nooni, Kleem Organics, and Better Natured.
 
“Rooted in inclusivity, J.C. Penney Beauty grew out of direct feedback from our customers,” explained J.C. Penney EVP and chief merchandising officer Michelle Wlazlo in a release. “Together with our brand partners, we have reimagined every aspect of our beauty experience – from the highly curated assortment and welcoming space to the integrated loyalty program and all new e-commerce experience.”
 
The retailer also revealed that J.C. Penney Beauty will feature a Thirteen Lune shop-in-shop experience. Thirteen Lune is an inclusive beauty e-commerce platform launched by cosmetics entrepreneur Nyakio Grieco and Patrick Herning, founder of luxury plus-size fashion label 11 Honoré. The site seeks to drive the discovery of beauty brands created by Black and Brown founders, and 39 of the labels offered by J.C. Penney Beauty have been selected from its assortment. These include Buttah Skin, Bossy Cosmetics, Mischo Beauty, Pholk Beauty, Prados Beauty, Sara Happ, Spraise, Vernon François, and Wander Beauty.
 
J.C. Penney Beauty will be rolling out across 10 of the chain’s stores in mid-October, namely its locations in Davenport, Florida; Dearborn, Michigan; Greenville, North Carolina; McAllen, Texas; Mesquite, Texas; Niles, Ohio; Springfield, Missouri; Saint Cloud, Minnesota; Trumbull, Connecticut; Whittier, California. The new beauty experience will also launch on the company’s e-commerce website on October 15.
 
Ultimately J.C. Penney Beauty is expected to have been introduced to 600 J.C. Penney stores by 2023. J.C. Penney’s in-store Sephora locations will be phased out by late 2022, when the partnership between the two companies – which had to be renegotiated after a legal dispute last year – expires.