J.C. Penney is Attracting an Unlikely Demographic: Millennial Moms

An unlikely demographic is shopping at J.C. Penney — millennial moms. This group of women accounts for 45 percent of the retailer’s revenue, and is driving much of the growth in the company's sales and customer count. Sheeba Philip, J.C. Penney's vice president of marketing strategy and communications, told CNBC, "We want to be able to deliver her needs both as a woman and as a mother. That's a huge unmet need." To do this, J.C. Penney has brought back a dedicated toy section to its kids department, introduced Sephora shop-in-shops and InStyle-branded beauty salons, and pushed its new fast-fashion line, Belle & Sky.

Total Retail’s Take: This part of J.C. Penney’s turnaround strategy is great. Instead of pushing new trends and technologies onto shoppers, like magic mirrors, J.C. Penney put thought into what millennial moms actually want. Although the company doesn’t attract as many millennial shoppers as Macy’s and Nordstrom, it has a plan to catch up that includes tweaking floor plans in certain millennial-heavy markets to showcase the Belle & Sky label at store entrances.