JCPenney Merges With Brooks Brothers, Aeropostale Owner To Create 1,800-Store Giant
JCPenney is now under the same corporate umbrella as many of the brands that occupy spaces next to it in malls across the country.
Sparc Group — owner of Forever 21, Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Nautica, Stafford and Liz Claiborne — officially merged Thursday with the department store chain to form a new entity, Catalyst Brands.
Simon Property Group and Brookfield Corp., two of the largest mall owners in the country, own stakes in both entities. Simon and Brookfield purchased JCPenney out of bankruptcy in 2020 for $1.8B.
Sparc was formed in 2016 by Simon, Brookfield and Authentic Brands Group, and fast fashion retailer Shein was brought in as a minority owner in 2023.
The move allows Catalyst to streamline its brands under a single distribution, e-commerce and retail network, according to the merger announcement. Catalyst will remain headquartered at JCPenney’s home in Plano, Texas, and Marc Rosen, the CEO of JCPenney, has been named CEO of Catalyst.
“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. “Together, we bring scale, expertise and broad appeal to customers across America.
The combined company has more than 1,800 stores, employs 60,000 people, has $9B of annual revenue and $1B of liquidity, according to the release. Michelle Wlazlo, JCPenney's chief merchandising and supply chain officer, was named the brand's new CEO.
Catalyst announced it sold the U.S. operations for sports apparel brand Reebok and is exploring strategic options for Forever 21. Intellectual property owned by Authentic Brands that Sparc licenses, like Nautica and Lucky Brands, will not be impacted by the merger, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The company plans to leverage the data of its more than 60 million customers as well as AI technology “to enhance its supply chain and inventory management capabilities and to deepen consumer relationships,” it said in the release.
“With a clean balance sheet, we’re in great position to move forward,” Rosen said in the release.
The merger is the latest in a shift in the U.S. retail industry that began more than seven years ago when Simon first bought then-bankrupt retailer Aéropostale to keep it running. The mall landlord's CEO, David Simon, admitted in 2023 that it had made “mistakes” with some of its retailer acquisitions but committed to reinvesting in JCPenney.
While retail landlords have enjoyed record-low vacancies and rising rents, it was a turbulent year for retailers, which closed 7,100 stores in 2024, according to research firm CoreSight, a 69% increase from 2023.
