J.C. Penney Expanding Sports Memorabilia, Merchandise Offerings With New Deal
Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 02:23PM 
August 20, 2009: In an effort to expand beyond its traditional offerings of apparel, housewear and home decor, and also to greatly expand its sports apparel SKUs, J.C. Penney has signed a deal with Dreams, Inc. to launch an e-retail site that will offer an extensive array of licensed sports merchandise from professional teams, colleges and athletes, including sports memorabilia. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The site, which will be accessible from both J.C. Penney's and Dream's home pages, is scheduled to be unveiled in October, in time for the MLB post-season and World Series. According to the retailer, 2009 World Series merchandise will be available to customers. As is the case with other retailers, J.C. Penney is seeking new ways to turn a profit. The company this month reported a fiscal Q2 loss of $1 million compared with a profit of $117 million in the quarter a year ago, and said that sales fell 7.9% to $3.9 billion.
Dreams, Inc. based in Plantation, Fla., is the parent company for such sports brands as Field of Dreams, which operates retail sports and entertainment memorabilia stores nationwide; Mounted Memories and Pro Sports Memorabilia, which sell autographed collectibles and display cases; and FansEdge, an e-store that sells sports apparel, memorabilia and related items.
“We are elated to be working with J.C. Penney and providing their customers with the most comprehensive assortment of licensed sports items from professional teams, colleges, individuals and legacies,” Kevin Bates, Dreams Retail president, said in a statement. “We will integrate our technology seamlessly into theirs so customers will enjoy the same online shopping experience that they’ve always experienced at jcp.com, but with a much larger dimension of licensed sports products.” Back To Home Page