OT - Sephora/JC Penney

[Jane110]

For those of you who like to follow insider news.....

 

Major news in the beauty world announced today....

 

Sephora and JC Penney have announced an In-store Alliance and come this fall, there will be Sephora Shops in some JC Penney Stores. (locations not determined yet) Penney's just about abandoned the beauty business a few years ago which is currently cited a a big mistake by Penney executives.

 

The Sephora shops will be small (about 1500 sq ft) and it's not yet determined which Sephora brands will join in. They say that so far, they have a committment of about 15 of their 250 brands.

 

Beauty Industry Exec's say this is a coup a Penney's who will do well, but the big problem is that it's upmarket for Penney's but downmarket for Sephora and each brand will have to decide whether being sold in JC Penney will hurt their image or not.

 

It'll be interesting to watch.

 

Just thought you'd like to know.

Jane

[mrsred]

Very interesting.

 

I would never have guessed that Sephora would choose Penneys...but perhaps they'll open up some of their products to those who have never used their items before?

 

Will be interesting to watch.

 

~e

[Jane110]

Very interesting.

 

I would never have guessed that Sephora would choose Penneys...

 

Will be interesting to watch.

 

~e

 

 

I agree. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that the key Penney exec involved in the deal used to work for LVMH who owns Sephora.

[Happy ks]

Interesting.

 

I only go to Penneys for my sons clothes, he is big and tall and it's terribly hard to find shirts long enough for him. Otherwise, I'd not step foot in there, I find their pricing to be high for the quality they carry. They do have some good pricing on mens slacks when there is a sale, but I only buy standard brands you can find anywhere.

 

The store near me, in Laguna Hills, CA is not a very nice store, as a matter of fact, the whole Laguna Hills mall is a bit of a dump. There are no upscale shops there at all. So, it will fascinate me if they put a Sephora's in that store :eek: .

 

On a different note, Sears bought out Lands End a couple years ago, LE was my favorite for T's for a long time. I've not purchased any yet this year, but I did order a pair of PJ's a couple weeks ago. I can definitely tell the quality difference. Too bad.

[BlueHerons]

Very interesting.

 

I think both K-Mart and Target can attest to having a big name in store to boost sales. Martha Stewart practically single handidly saved K-Mart and Target's appeal is their celebrity roster of industry experts.

 

I mean really, who could afford a Michael Graves tea pot otherwise?

[RachelD]

I am shocked that this is happening. I love Sephora. I really do not like JCPenney. These two do not seem to complement each other, IMO.

 

I do not remember the last time I actually stepped into JCPenney. I don't think that I will even if Sephora does team up with our local JCPenney. I would rather buy my supplies on the Sephora website than to go into a JCPenney.

 

Wow... I am really bothered by this!:o

[Ledyz]

Wow, I would never have paired the two companies together. I do not really care for JCPenny. But, I love shopping in Sephora.

 

Hmmm, interesting news....

[Jane110]

I definitely think it's going to hurt Sephora's image but improve Penney's image.

 

I think that to keep damage under control, Sephora will have to be very selective about which lines they allow in the Penney stores. However, the Sephora line itself, IMO will go through a major downscale imaging.

Getting a Sephora lipstick or bath kit was always "cool". With the JP Penney label, it's going to loose it's panache.

[BlueHerons]

I definitely think it's going to hurt Sephora's image but improve Penney's image.

 

I think that to keep damage under control, Sephora will have to be very selective about which lines they allow in the Penney stores. However, the Sephora line itself, IMO will go through a major downscale imaging.

Getting a Sephora lipstick or bath kit was always "cool". With the JP Penney label, it's going to loose it's panache.

 

I bet instead of using the Sephora label, they will downscale and do something along the lines of "Sephora for JC Penny" line that is only available at JC Penny.

 

I also bet the upscale kazillion lines they carry will not allow them in JC Penny.

 

Come to think of it, look what happened to Halston. He never recovered.

[Jane110]

I bet instead of using the Sephora label, they will downscale and do something along the lines of "Sephora for JC Penny" line that is only available at JC Penny.

 

I thought of that too, but negated it because Penney's is looking to upscale their image with Sephora.

It'll be interesting to see how they end up branding it.

 

I also bet the upscale kazillion lines they carry will not allow them in JC Penny.

 

Now that I'm sure of. No way is the Penney's customer going to pay $250. for a jar of face creme.

 

Come to think of it, look what happened to Halston. He never recovered.

 

The only thing I can think of bigger than that fiasco was Bill Blass Chocolates! LOL!

 

Jane

[tangerinebunny]

I love the Sephora brand bath products and used to make a special effort to bring them home from Europe in their pre USA days. This is so lowering.....:o lol

[Happy ks]

So, I did a quick walk through of my local Sephoras the other day. I don't know if it's because of this post, or because I haven't been in there for a while, but it did not seem to have as much product variety as I remember.

 

I've had a moratorium on makeup purchases for a few months.

[Jane110]

So, I did a quick walk through of my local Sephoras the other day. I don't know if it's because of this post, or because I haven't been in there for a while, but it did not seem to have as much product variety as I remember.

 

I've had a moratorium on makeup purchases for a few months.

 

Like many chain stores, Sephora puts different selections of merchandise in different locations. If anything, they've been expanding their offerings and I always see new brands when I go into one.

 

It just may be that the particular location you were visiting doesn't get the sales in certain brands so they don't stock them. Of course, they'd be happy to order anything for you.

 

I shop at Sephora when I'm looking for an item that I have no brand allegiance to. For example, if I want a new blush or lipstick, I enjoy the "try them all" atmosphere with no pressue from any particular company touting "ours is best" even though they might not have the color I want. However, if I'm shopping by brand, say Chanel eye pencils, I prefer to go the the Chanel counter at a dept. store so a person extensively knowledgable can point out some new things, show me an update trick and perhaps even give me a few free samples with my purchase.

 

Back to JC Penney and Sephora - all of my industry contacts feel this is really a huge move down for Sephora and will hurt their image with their current customer base. I have a friend who's a real maven in the cosmetics industry - she knows *everyone* at every brand. I'll see her next week and will get her opinion. I'd love to know what she thinks of this.

[Happy ks]

Jane, I probably visited the store with an attitude:p . I was looking for a particular item, which I know I bought at Sephora a while back. It was a Shu Uemera eyelash curler, for my daughters Easter basket, so she'll leave mine alone!

 

I couldn't find it at any of the department stores. Probably a good thing, they have gotten a bit pricey and are not refillable. I ended up with a Shiseido at almost half the price and it has refills. It's all my fault that I'm introducing my teenage daughter to the finer cosmetics, she can already tell the difference!

 

I think a shrink would call it transference.

[Jane110]

Kathi,

 

A "refill" for an eyelash curler. Okay, I'm totally confused....exactly what gets refilled???

 

BTW, I have a great eyelash curler from a company called Japonesque. It's a wand (the size of a tube of mascara) and when you open it, there are tiny little comb teeth. You switch it on and it heats up and like a mini curling iron, heats your lashes so they curl up. You use it after applying mascara. It costs about $20. and it's wonderful! (uses a little battery)

 

http://www.japonesque.com

 

HEATED MINI LASH CURLER

MT-037

Heated Eyelash Curler with battery. Curls stubborn lashes all at once or a section at a time. Can be used after applying mascara. Includes AAA flashlight battery. Power indicator lamp.

[suziescruzin]

I have the shortest, straightest eye lashes and nothing has seemed to help curl or lengthen them so maybe I'll give the "mini curling iron" a shot. We have a Trade Secrets in our little town so I'll give it a try.

 

Thanks for the tip!

Suze