Back in those heady days, J.C.Penney would have killed to have Liz Claiborne in its stores. Today, it is exclusive to J.C.Penney. However, instead of leveraging the high brand awareness of Liz Claiborne to drive traffic to its stores, J.C.Penney is in the process of trampling on its reputation. Joe Fresh, introduced on March 15, 2013, is clearly favored over Liz Claiborne. Joe Fresh is an attractive line of separates, but it isn't a brand that customers know well. It is wrong for J.C.Penney management to minimize the Liz Claiborne brand, since it is still respected and accepted by many customers.
Founded in 1976 by Liz Claiborne, a 47-year-old Belgian designer, Art Ortenberg, her husband who specialized in textiles, Leonard Boxer who was in charge of production, and Jerome Chazen. Chazen, who initially was co-chairman with Ortenberg, COO, salesman, merchant and businessman, eventually became a brilliant chairman of the company.
Claiborne was the first designer to insist that her collection be placed together on the department store sales floor. At the time the norm was to sell merchandise by category not by collection. Liz did not want to scatter her designs all over the store using the category selling approach. Presented as a collection, customers were able to mix and match pieces the way they wanted, and they loved it. Liz Claiborne was a huge success. Claiborne’s motto to give the customer the product she wants, the way she wants it, and she will respond, turned out to be true for quite a few years.
Liz Claiborne was a great brand, with great designs. It had a contemporary look that I still find in some of today’s merchandise that is found only on J.C.Penney shelves. In its heyday Liz Claiborne had apparel sales of more than $1.4 billion. However, times change and the brand lost some of its relevance but still garners extraordinary awareness. In my opinion, in the hands of a skilled and strategic merchandising team, the Liz Claiborne brand could be revived.
In November 2011, J.C.Penney aquired the domestic and international rights of the Liz Claiborne family of brands for $268 million. Unfortunately, with J.C.Penney as its current owner, the brand is suffering along with the overall store. Generating approximately $400 million in sales before CEO Ron Johnson’s store transformation began, I estimate Liz Claiborne’s sales at J.C.Penney, despite its exclusivity, have probably dropped at least 25% to $300 million in the last year. What a shame. Given such high awareness, had it been managed effectively, instead of shrinking, I could see the brand possibly supporting a number of free standing Liz Claiborne stores both in the United States, Canada, and even Europe. In my opinion, J.C.Penney’s management ignored this opportunity to develop product for a brand they own that has respected cache.
Liz Claiborne is not the only tried and true brand that is unloved at J.C.Penney these days. I do not understand why the current management of J.C.Penney (and I do not use the abbreviated name JCP that CEO Johnson, is trying to inflict on the public) ignores the value of brand names that have been nurtured by previous managements – Alan Questrom and Mike Ullman in recent years, and Bill Howell, Don Seibert and Bill Batten in the more distant past. Names like Worthington, St. John’s Bay, Stafford and Okie Dokie are just some examples. These are brands that have unique value, since the customer is familiar with the look and fit of their product; she knows and trusts these brands.
It is a sad testament to the current management that they have not highlighted Liz Claiborne as a very special brand. Customers I spoke to remember the name and the design. To this day the brand has staying power and appeal.
