JCPenney Sets Its Sites on E-Commerce

JCPenney Co. recently launched two e-commerce sites through a marketing collaboration with Hearst Corp.’s magazine unit.In October, the department store operator unveiled Gifting Grace, a gift site targeting women ages 30 to 54. The effort is headed by Mary Drolet, the former chief merchandising and marketing officer at Claire’s Stores and founder of Club LibbyLu (which is now owned by Saks).That launch followed the August introduction of Clad, a website for men’s contemporary apparel, shoes and accessories targeting 24- to 54-year-old males seeking style guidance. It is run by Will Swillie, who previously launched the Rue La La men’s business while working for e-commerce operator Retail Convergence.As a revenue-sharing partner, Hearst helps curate products and provides content for the sites while also delivering promotional sections through its magazines and websites to raise awareness and drive traffic. Gifting Grace will work closely with titles such as Good Housekeeping and Redbook; Clad is wed to Esquire, which is producing a quarterly pullout section called “The Clad Report” that also will be available on cladmen.com. The two sites were developed by the Growth Brands Division that JCPenney formed last year to pursue high-potential opportunities leveraging the company’s merchandising, marketing, product development, sourcing, IT and planning and allocation capabilities. Anne Sutherland Fuchs leads the division as group president of digital ventures. Fuchs has been an executive at LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and also at Hearst and Conde Nast Publications.The business unit’s initiatives — including the Foundry Big & Tall Supply Co. launched earlier this year (see Related Articles) — are separate from the company’s core department-store chain.

JCPenney Sets Its Sites on E-Commerce

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