DC joins Vans at JC Penney

There’s lots of talk about JC Penney both outside and inside the industry as the discount retailer works to transform itself into a specialty department store.

The company is on the hunt for new brands to carry, and even sent buyers to Agenda last week.

A table of DC Ts at JC Penney

Vans has done business with JC Penney for years, and DC Shoes launched there this month in time for back to school.

I stopped by JC Penney at Main Place mall in Santa Ana this week to check out both Vans and DC’s presentation there, and to see the first new brand shop to debut under new CEO Ron Johnson – a dedicated Levi’s store within a store.

When it comes to DC footwear, I only saw three styles at the store – a much smaller selection than other brands such as Puma, Adidas, Converse and Nike.

It was in the young men’s apparel section where I saw the most DC goods – a large table filled with Ts in addition to racks with hoodies, wovens, tanks and shorts.

DC Shoes at JC Penney

DC was grouped with a large selection of Vans apparel and adjacent to goods from Hart and Huntington and Zoo York.

Both the apparel for Vans and DC looked to be different from styles found at a typical core store.

DC executives declined to comment about the addition of JC Penney to its distribution. Parent company Quiksilver is in the midst of an aggressive five-year growth plan that includes doubling the size of DC to about $1 billion in annual revenue.

DC may not be the only industry brand that is joining JC Penney. Word on the street is that there is another action sports brand that will debut there next year, though the name of that brand has not been announced.

Vans Ts at JC Penney

Rusty, which launched a segmentation strategy a few years back under the La Jolla Group, sold to JC Penney before Ron Johnson’s plan went into effect, and I did not notice Rusty product at the one store I visited this week.

Vans, one of the most successful brands in the industry, has a disciplined segmentation strategy that includes selling at stores such as JC Penney and Kohl’s, mall stores such as Journeys, PacSun and Foot Locker, and core stores and fashion boutiques.

See Page 2 for details and photos of Ron Johnson's plan to transform JC Penney