Penney Creates New Division

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 7/25/2005 12:00:00 AM

Plano, Texas —

In a move designed to further strengthen its “Big 7” private brands including the billion-dollar-plus JCPenney Home Collection, the company has established a new brand management division.

Laurie Van Brunt has joined the company to head the division as vice president, director of brand management.

Van Brunt, the first recruit in the new corporate division, reports to Mike Boylson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer. She, Boylson and the merchants will work to build a brand management team, creating brand managers with responsibility for overseeing the positioning of each brand, according to a company spokesperson.

The new division is responsible for maintaining a consistent positioning across each brand in areas ranging from product development to marketing and advertising.

Van Brunt most recently was senior vice president and chief merchant for Chadwick's, an apparel retailer. Earlier, she was executive vice president, general merchandise manager for Lane Bryant, a unit of Limited Brands.