Plano-based JCPenney and New York’s SPARC Group—a joint venture of Authentic Brands Group, e-retailer Shein, and Simon Property Group—have formed a new company called Catalyst Brands. 

The merger joins Authentic’s brands Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand, and Nautica with JCPenney and its exclusive private brands including Arizona, Stafford, and Liz Claiborne, the companies said.

Marc Rosen

Former JCPenney CEO Marc Rosen has become CEO of Catalyst Brands. The new company is based at the current corporate location of JCPenney in Plano, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

“Catalyst Brands brings together the rich heritage of six unique brands with modern energy and a new vision for success,” Rosen said in a statement. “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.”

The new entity was created through an all-equity transaction between JCPenney and Sparc Group, with shareholders Simon Property Group, Brookfield Corp., Authentic Brands, and Shein. Financial details weren’t disclosed.

Mall operators Simon and Brookfield acquired JCPenney for about $800 million in September 2020, after the Plano company, which had struggled for years, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

JCPenney gets a new brand CEO

Catalyst Brands is launching with with more than $9 billion of revenue, 1,800 store locations, 60,000 employees, and $1 billion of liquidity, the company said.

Three brand CEOs overseeing the portfolio will report to Rosen. They are:

• Michelle Wlazlo, formerly chief merchandising and supply chain officer of JCPenney, who has been promoted to brand CEO of JCPenney;
• Natalie Levy, who continues her role as Brand CEO of Aéropostale, Lucky Brand, and Nautica; and
• Ken Ohashi, who will continue leading Brooks Brothers and has assumed responsibility for Eddie Bauer in his new role as Brand CEO of both brands.

Former Walmart executive Kevin Harper will join Catalyst Brands as chief operating officer, Catalyst said. Marisa Thalberg, formerly consulting chief marketing and brand officer of JCPenney, has become the chief customer and marketing officer of Catalyst Brands.

Catalyst has served more than 60 million customers over the past three years, has broad consumer reach through a robust distribution network of owned stores, e-commerce sites, and wholesale partners, the company said.

In a ‘great position to move forward’

The new company said it 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,” Rosen said. “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,” Rosen said. “With a clean balance sheet, we’re in great position to move forward.”

Catalyst Brands said it has sold the U.S. operations of Reebok and is exploring strategic options for the operations of Forever 21, both of which have been owned by Authentic Brands Group.

The Catalyst transaction does not affect the intellectual property owned by Authentic Brands, which SPARC Group licenses (Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Forever 21, Lucky Brand, and Nautica), the company said.

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