Joe Fresh becomes the next Shop-in-Shop JCPenney

As one of what’s sure to be many partnerships to come, JCPenney welcomes Toronto-based fast-fashion chain Joe Fresh to open up shop within its doors. And this is big news for Joe Fresh, as they currently have only 6 stores in the US, all in the greater New York area.

Founder Joseph Mimran told WWD, “For [Joe Fresh], it looked like a great opportunity to get a very large footprint in the U.S. very quickly and to do it with someone who is visionary.”

Joe Fresh will be handling the design and merchandising of it’s shops in 683 JCP locations. Mimran says he buys into JCPs vision of the future, which includes “the wider aisles, the self checkout, the cafe, the juice bar, the seating arrangements, the room being offered to the brands, and the fact that each brand can have its own voice. It feels right.”

And gut feeling is extremely important in this case, since current numbers aren’t anything you would want to base a partnership on. As Mimran puts it, Joe Fresh is “not going into Penney’s on the basis of today’s performance. We are going in on the basis of tomorrow.”

How many of you will shop at JCPenney’s more, now that Joe Fresh will be sold there?