Dive Brief:
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J.C. Penney is testing its first fast-fashion line, “Belle + Sky,” that will have trendy pieces that appear in stores more quickly.
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The line is in 50 of its 1,000 stores and range from $14.99 to $59.99, according to Fortune, which took J.C. Penney’s penchant for markdowns into account.
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The retailer has already learned that its supply chain approach is too slow and cumbersome for the demands of fast-fashion, according to its own CEO.
Dive Insight:
J.C. Penney’s new CEO Marvin Ellison came aboard last month and hasn’t been shy about the retailer’s need for change. That’s fairly bold yet utterly necessary. Bold because the last CEO to bring change to the retailer was Ron Johnson, who was shown the door when his changes were deemed too drastic and was replaced by the previous CEO. And that CEO, Mike Ullman, mostly unraveled all of Johnson’s knitting and brought the retailer to its previous status quo, more or less.
But necessary, of course, because Penney needs more than the previous status quo. Cleaning up its supply chain process in the age of omnichannel is on the to-do list for most retailers, and certainly for one attempting the speedy track known as fast-fashion.
It’s a space that is facing new challenges — a consumer that may be able to afford better things, a generation in millennials that care about sustainability and quality, and increased competition from the likes of British newcomer Primark and efforts like J. Crew’s Madewell brand.
