Catalyst Brands brings together the SPARC Group brands Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand and Nautica with JCPenney and its exclusive private brands, including Stafford, Arizona and Liz Claiborne. Serving more than 60 million customers over the past three years, Catalyst Brands has broad consumer reach through a strong distribution network of owned stores, e-commerce sites and wholesale partners.
JCPenney and SPARC Group have formed Catalyst Brands, combining iconic retail brands such as Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer and JCPenney private brands. With more than $9 billion in revenue, 1,800 stores and 60,000 employees, the Catalyst Brands organization aims to drive innovation and growth across diverse customer segments.
Catalyst Brands launches with more than $9 billion in revenue, 1,800 stores, 60,000 employees and $1 billion of liquidity and is poised to generate significant strategic and operational value. The combined Catalyst Brands organization is a joint venture formed in an equity transaction between JCPenney and SPARC Group, with shareholders Simon Property Group, Brookfield Corporation, Authentic Brands Group and Shein.
Additionally, Catalyst Brands sold Reebok's U.S. operations and is exploring strategic options for Forever 21 operations, the company said in a news release.
Marc Rosen, former CEO of JCPenney, has become CEO of Catalyst Brands. There are three brand CEOs who will oversee the portfolio and report to Rosen. Michelle Wlazlo, former chief merchandising and supply chain officer at JCPenney, has been promoted to chief brand officer at JCPenney. Natalie Levy continues her role as Chief Brand Officer for Aéropostale, Lucky Brand and Nautica and Ken Ohashi will continue to lead Brooks Brothers and has assumed responsibility from Eddie Bauer in his new role as Chief Brand Officer for both brands. Former Walmart executive Kevin Harper will join Catalyst Brands as chief operating officer. Marisa Thalberg, former director of marketing and brand consulting at JCPenney, has become director of marketing and customers at Catalyst Brands. Additional leadership appointments can be found here.
“Catalyst Brands brings together the rich heritage of six unique brands with modern energy and a new vision for success. The word “catalyst” reflects our drive to accelerate innovation and energy and amplify the impact of this powerful portfolio. Together, we bring scale, experience and broad appeal to clients across the United States,” Rosen said. “For us, customers are at the center of what we do. We share the belief that customers deserve high-quality fashion and style for any time in life. “We will leverage our resources and the best talent in the industry to further grow our brands.”
With offerings that include formal and business fashion from Brooks Brothers, casual wear for teens and young adults from Aéropostale, outdoor recreation apparel and gear from Eddie Bauer to everyday style for every family from JCPenney, and more, Catalyst Brands has a broad reach across the market and customer segments. Catalyst Brands will integrate complementary strengths, including strong product design and sourcing capabilities, deep supplier relationships, and increasing use of data-driven technology and artificial intelligence to enhance its supply chain and inventory management capabilities and deepen customer relationships. consumers, the statement added.
“Our relationships with more than 60 million customers and the deep data we have create a compelling consumer value proposition across all of our brands. We can design a more personalized shopping experience, offer unified credit card and loyalty programs, and ultimately cross-sell more effectively. That is an example of the many benefits we will see in this combination,” Rosen continued. “With a clean balance sheet, we are in an excellent position moving forward.”
Catalyst Brands is headquartered in JCPenney's current corporate location in Plano, Texas, with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Seattle.
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