JCPenney teams up with People StyleWatch for promotional campaign

Regular JCPenney shoppers will soon notice a new presence in the chain's department stores.

Starting this September, the Texas-based retailer will be highlighting looks in its store that have been selected by the editors of People StyleWatch magazine.

The hand-picked items will focus on women’s clothes, accessories and footwear.

The retailer — which is also an advertiser in the magazine — will be rolling out “People StyleWatch Must-Haves”-branded merchandise displays in all 1,110 of its locations (the selected items will also be highlighted on jcp.com).

And starting in February 2011, JCPenney shoppers will be able to purchase in-store subscription offers to Time Inc. magazines – including People, People StyleWatch and InStyle — with a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the subscriptions going to JCPenney’s Afterschool organization, which promotes and creates after-school programs.

 “As we look to attract even more customers under 35, People StyleWatch’s demographics [the average reader is female and 29] line up beautifully with ours,” said Liz Sweney, executive vice president and senior general merchandise manager of women's apparel, accessories, handbags, shoes and fine jewelry for JCPenney.  “The magazine is for people who really care about fashion and trends and they’re going to go out and buy them – it’s almost a shopping magazine in a way. So it’s a perfect fit for us.” Sweney added that this is the first partnership of its kind between JCPenney and a major magazine.

“We are looking forward to working with JCPenney on developing must-haves and exploring some of their hot designer lines like Olsenboye and I Heart Ronson,” said Susan Kaufman, editor of People StyleWatch.

-- Emili Vesilind

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Photos, from top: A look from Olsenboye, a JCPenney collection designed by the Olsen twins; a recent cover of People StyleWatch magazine. Credit, from top: JCPenney; People StyleWatch.