JCPenney makes offer to buy rival department store (2024)

FAQs

Who is JCPenney trying to buy? ›

JCPenney recently made an offer to acquire rival brand Kohl's, according to the New York Post. Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management, owners of JCPenney, bid $8.6 billion ($68 a share) to buy Kohl's. If the offer is accepted, the brands will continue to operate as separate stores.

The owner companies behind JCPenney have reportedly made an offer to buy Kohl's for more than $8.5B. It would be a major move for the two rival department-store chains.

From what I'm seeing as I dig into the background on this story, it looks like the answer to that question is no. The JCPenney and Kohl's brands will remain separate, a source told The Post, with plans to streamline operations, merge IT systems and slash costs.

Mall owners Simon and Brookfield bought JCPenney out of bankruptcy. “That alignment with ownership is critical, especially as you're going through a transformation that requires significant investment,” he said.

The Kohl's logo is displayed on the exterior of a Kohl's store on January 24, 2022 in San Rafael, California. Kohl's said Monday that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with retail holding company Franchise Group , which is proposing to buy the retailer for $60 per share.

Kohl's is no longer for sale. The department store announced Friday that it has ended its strategic review process and will no longer consider selling itself to Franchise Group (FRG), a holding company that owns The Vitamin Shoppe and other retail brands.

Under Simon and Brookfield: 2020-present

Marc Rosen became CEO in 2021. In April 2022, JCPenney's owners–Simon and Brookfield– offered $8.6 billion to purchase Kohl's. Sephora had already announced plans to contract exclusively with Kohl's by 2023, and had piloted Sephora Inside Kohls at select store locations.

JCPenney filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing problems. It was ultimately purchased by Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management. Simon Property Group is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Sephora did not renew its contact with JCPenney.

"Sephora wasn't working for us," Marc Rosen, the CEO of JCPenney since Nov. 2021, told The Wall Street Journal in an April interview. According to Rosen, shoppers who came to buy Sephora's beauty products weren't buying from other areas in JCPenney's stores.

If you have a basic JCPenney card, you can't use it anywhere besides JCPenney, jcp.com, Rite Aid, the Sephora stores inside JCPenney, and (most recently) online at Sephora.

Is Kohl's cheaper than JCPenney? ›

Kohl's is the more affordable store, but JCPenney offers more variety and has more sales.

The Kohl's credit card is issued by Capital One and also known as the "Kohl's Charge" card.

J.C. Penney's Q4 total net sales fell 5.4% to $2.4 billion, as net income rose 18% to $45 million, according to various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For the full year ended in January 2023, net sales fell 3.4% year over year to $7.6 billion.

JCPenney and Forever 21 are under the Authentic Brands Group together with other retail brands such as Reebok (which Shaq was a former endorser), and Barneys New York. Since 2015, Shaq has owned interests in the Authentic Brands Group.

The company was saddled with debt and spent the last decade with a continual turnover in CEOs, new store designs that couldn't spark interest, initiatives and rebrands that didn't resonate with customers. The once-beloved retailer has been unprofitable since 2010 with net losses of $4.5 billion.

O'Neal is reportedly the second highest individual shareholder of the Authentic Brands Group. This company is responsible for many brand and retailer acquisitions, including Forever 21, Reebok, Barneys New York and JCPenney.

The company was saddled with debt and spent the last decade with a continual turnover in CEOs, new store designs that couldn't spark interest, initiatives and rebrands that didn't resonate with customers. The once-beloved retailer has been unprofitable since 2010 with net losses of $4.5 billion.

Two years after a difficult bankruptcy, JCPenney has found solid footing while other chains died during the pandemic. Sometimes the relevance of a retailer is decided by people who don't shop there. It's a Wall Street vs. Main Street, high-income vs.