Joe Fresh Joins the JCPenney Shop-in-Shop Lineup

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Another day, another JCPenney makeover story. In one of what's surely to be many partnerships to come, the department store welcomes Toronto-based fast-fashion chain Joe Fresh to open up shop within its doors. Currently, Joe Fresh has only 6 stores in the US, all in the greater New York area. Founder Joseph Mimran told WWD, "For [Joe Fresh], it looked like a great opportunity to get a very large footprint in the U.S. very quickly and to do it with someone who is visionary."

Joe Fresh will be handling the design and merchandising of it's shops in 683 JCPs, which is a-okay with Miriam. He says he buys into JCPs vision of the future, which includes "the wider aisles, the self checkout, the cafe, the juice bar [Ed. note: Whoa, whoa... No one said anything about juice bars!], the seating arrangements, the room being offered to the brands, and the fact that each brand can have its own voice. It feels right."

And gut feeling is extremely important in this case, since current numbers aren't anything you'd want to base a partnership on. As Miriam puts it, Joe Fresh is "not going into Penney's on the basis of today's performance. We are going in on the basis of tomorrow."
· The Vision for Joe Fresh at J.C. Penney [WWD]
· JCPenney Admits Their No-Sale Strategy Has "Driven Away Customers" [Racked]
· JCPenney Amps Up Overhaul: Shops-in-Shops, iPads, and Haircuts Are Headed Your Way [Racked]