JCPenney and SPARC Group combined to form a new enterprise, Catalyst Brands, in a merger that brings together a range of legacy fashion and retail brands.
The merger highlights a brand portfolio that includes SPARC’s Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand and Nautica banners. For its part, JCPenney brings its exclusive private brands, including Stafford, Arizona and Liz Claiborne, into the mix. The combination is one of national brands as well as retail banners the company can apportion across operations.
Catalyst Brands launches with more than $9 billion of revenue, JCPenney and SPARC pointed out, operating 1,800 store locations, employing 60,000 staffers and possessing $1 billion of liquidity.
Catalyst Brands emerges as a joint venture formed in an all-equity transaction between JCPenney and SPARC Group, with shareholders Simon Property Group, Brookfield Corp., Authentic Brands Group and Shein. In August of 2023, Shein reached an agreement with SPARC Group Holding, a collaboration between Simon Property and the Authentic Brands Group, in which it acquired a one-third interest in SPARC, which itself took a minority interest in Shein. Simon and Brookfield acquired JCPenney during Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings from which the retailer emerged in late 2020.
Besides assembling its portfolio of banners and brands, Catalyst has sold the U.S. Reebok operation, formerly a SPARC property, and is exploring strategic options for its Forever 21 banner.
Marc Rosen, formerly JCPenney chief executive, is now Catalyst Brands CEO. Three brand CEOs will oversee the portfolio and report to Rosen. Michelle Wlazlo, formerly chief merchandising and supply chain officer for JCPenney, was promoted to brand CEO of JCPenney. Natalie Levy continues her role as brand CEO of Aéropostale, Lucky Brand and Nautica. Ken Ohashi continues leading Brooks Brothers and has assumed CEO responsibility for Eddie Bauer. Consultant and former Walmart executive Kevin Harper joins Catalyst Brands as COO. Marisa Thalberg, formerly the consulting chief marketing and brand officer of JCPenney, has become the chief customer and marketing officer of Catalyst Brands.
In announcing the merger, Rosen said. “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 powerhouse portfolio. Together, we bring scale, expertise and broad appeal to customers across America. For us, customers are at the heart of what we do. We have a shared belief that customers deserve fashion and style of great quality for any and every moment in life. We will leverage our resources and best-in-class industry talent to grow our brands further.”
Rosen said the Catalyst portfolio of brands allows the company to serve consumers across a range of needs from business and formal fashion as offered by Brooks Brothers to recreation gear from Eddie Bauer to everyday needs from JCPenney.
“Catalyst Brands has expansive reach across market and customer segments,” Rosen said. “Catalyst Brands will integrate complementary strengths, including strong product design and sourcing capabilities, deep supplier relationships and a growing use of data-driven and AI technology to enhance its supply chain and inventory management capabilities and to deepen consumer relationships. Our relationships with more than 60 million customers and the deep data we have create a compelling consumer value proposition across our brands. We can design a more personalized shopping experience, offer unified loyalty and credit card programs and ultimately, cross-sell more effectively. That’s one example of the many benefits we’ll see in this combination. With a clean balance sheet, we’re in a great position to move forward.”
Catalyst Brands will assume headquarters operations at JCPenney’s corporate offices in Plano, TX, with other company offices operating in New York, Los Angeles and Seattle.
