J.C. Penney Sparkles with New Bijoux Bar

J.C. Penney today announced the addition of The Bijoux Bar as part of their four-year store reinvention. The Bijoux Bar will feature secondary lines from some of the top selling jewelers, including some that sell to stores like Bloomingdale's and Bergdorf Goodman.

The Bijoux Bar is set to debut on April 28th in about 650 Penney's locations and on online.

"This is really better fashion jewelry," said Pam Mortensen, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of fine and fashion jewelry. "Some people call it bridge. We think The Bijoux Bar will attract a new customer and resonate with our current customers. The customer has been in our store but going to other places to buy this product."

The Bijoux Bar is part of Penney's efforts to generate more traffic and younger audiences, as well as fill some merchandise voids. The main floor of Penney's where the "center core" is located (industry terminology for jewelry, accessories and cosmetics) has long since been their trouble spot. In 2006, Sephora shops in beauty helped give Penney's a boost in productivity. Penney's hopes The Bijoux Bar will also boost revenue and stimulate more impulse shopping.

Other areas in the store that have seen face lifts and new features are the Joe Fresh section that launched in March; a revamped home floor that will feature exclusives from Jonathan Adler, Terence Conran, Bodum and Michael Graves; the launch of Pearl by Georgina Chapman of Marchesa and L'Amour Nanette Lepore; Levi's, Izod and Liz Claiborne were all converted into shops-in-shop.

"We do believe traffic is improving, and there has been a slight uptick in conversion rate in March, which does coincide with the launch of Joe Fresh and the huge amount of spring dresses on sale in Liz Claiborne, Worthington and other labels," Craig Johnson said. He also cited $10 coupons as "ubiquitous."

Overall, Penney's hopes to turn into an umbrella for 100 shops-in-shop that will bring a fresh look to their stores. Starting April 18, The Bijoux Bar will be featured on the website and have its own brand page.