Retail Therapy: JC Penney is focused on getting the merchandise right with ana relaunch - The Dallas Morning News

If this 118-year-old retailer is going to fashion a turnaround, it needs fashion that more people want to wear.

J.C. Penney is ready to start talking about that, starting with denim, because women swear by their jeans. When they find a brand that fits well, they buy it over and over and in multiple colors and wear those jeans every day if they can.

Penney’s chief merchant Michelle Wlazlo set out to make Penney that place where women who wear sizes 2 to 24W in missy, petite, plus and tall can fulfill that need.

Penney relaunched its a.n.a. brand this week in stores as an all-inclusive denim choice with 15 styles and fits and 51 fabric washes. Extended sizes to 30W, additional tall sizing and 80 washes will be available online March 1.

“We heard the customer say ‘I know you do career and fancy, but I don’t like you as a casual destination,’ ” Wlazlo said in an interview. “We knew we had to do something about that declaration.”

High-rise, at-waist, mid-rise, jegging, skinny and wide legs are among the choices developed with soft washes and in spring colors. The jeans also come in different shades of blue and a white that’s treated with a stain-repellant technology.

With the a.n.a. relaunch this week, J.C. Penney is putting missy and plus sizes in the same section in 85 stores. That makes it easier for women who often wear sizes of tops and jeans in both departments. (Lynda M. Gonzalez / Staff Photographer)

J.C. Penney's a.n.a. display at its store in Stonebriar Centre in Frisco. The relaunch of the brand this week is intented to make Penney a women's denim desination.(Lynda M. Gonzalez / Staff Photographer)

“We’re giving people a reason to buy different colors,” said Wlazlo, who was wearing a pair of black high-rise jeans, a black sweater and a brown top — all from a.n.a. — during an interview Tuesday at Penney’s store in Frisco’s Stonebriar Centre.

“The black jeans stay this black because the color is in the fiber and yarns,” she said.

Getting this one basic but key wardrobe essential right for women is an example of Penney CEO Jill Soltau’s strategy of making Penney relevant to more shoppers. She introduced that path in November with Penney’s third-quarter results and likely will be saying more when she presents to Wall Street analysts in April.

Shoppers will begin to see new brands introduced while existing brands “show up differently and more stylish,” said Wlazlo, who joined Penney in March 2019.

Customers will also begin to notice new ideas coming out of the lab store called Penney’s that Soltau’s team created and reopened in October in Hurst’s North East Mall.

Penney tried putting plus and misses denim in the same department in Hurst, and shoppers like it, Wlazlo said. It has repositioned merchandise that way in 85 Penney stores starting this week, including locally in Dallas, Mesquite, Lewisville, Burleson and Cedar Hill.

“It’s an inclusive environment, and women tell us, sometimes they’re an 18 and sometimes they need an 18W,” Wlazlo said. “This makes it easier to try things on.”

Spring collections of two other strong private brands at Penney — Worthington and St. John’s Bay — are also being revamped under Wlazlo, who was senior vice president of apparel and accessories at Target for three years on the team that launched 15 new private brands and changed the layout in 1,400 Target stores. Before she worked at Target, Wlazlo spent 19 years at Gap Inc.

Soltau and Wlaszlo have refocused the merchant teams away from categories or items to think about how people live. The execs named those times “move, chill, all-day, on point and shine.” It’s a quick way to illustrate what people wear when they’re exercising, sleeping, hanging out, working and celebrating special occasions.

While many analysts have given up on department stores, Penney is continuing to work in Plano to try to turn the chain around and restructure its debt that is maturing in 2023 and 2025. Penney also has a cushion of about $1.7 billion in liquidity.

More than 100 customers and employees in Dallas and Los Angeles tested the jeans and offered feedback in sessions with the design team. The new jeans range in price from $39 to $49 and drop to $24 to $39 when they’re on sale.

“A majority of retailers carry denim, and to not have a declarative offering was a miss,” Wlazlo said. “a.n.a. should and will be one of our most important brands in women’s. Our customers told us it was inconsistent.”

Once they see her team’s work, she’s predicting, “they’ll convert.”

Retail therapy explores new ideas for shoppers and the ways retailers are trying to stay relevant.

Twitter: @MariaHalkias

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