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JCPenney's exhaustively hyped comeback continues with the announcement of a new "Bijoux Bar," which is basically a fancy name for their new jewelry counters. Like JCP's new shop-in-shops, the idea here is that fashiony designers are creating diffusion lines exclusively for the department store—what Nick Wooster has awesomely referred to as "cute shit"—and they are being displayed together in a more appealing way than jewelry has been merchandised in the past. And if you've been in a Penney's any time in the past 10 years, you know that is not setting the bar particularly high.
But the Bijoux Bar sounds pretty promising. Lana Bramlette, Kenneth Jay Lane, and Kara Ross are among the participating designers, WWD reports. Though the group is kind of all over the map aesthetic-wise (Bramlette is trend-driven, Kenneth Jay Lane is classic mass-market, and Kara Ross is distinctly ladies who lunch) that seems to be the point. "We were trying to look at a cross-section... There is something for every woman at every age, at any taste level, for any occasion," a rep told WWD. At the very least, you will now be able to find a decently priced Mother's Day present in a pinch. It will launch online April 18 and in stores a little later on April 28.
· J.C. Penney Elevating Jewelry With Bijoux Bar [WWD]
· Nick Wooster on JCP's Comeback: 'We Need To Make Cute Shit' [Racked]
· Joe Fresh Launches at J.C. Penney Today, But Most Customers Probably Don't Care [Racked]
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