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Analyst: JC Penney needs to spruce up its fashion

May 19, 2017

While J.C. Penney’s store sales dropped across all its clothing lines in the past quarter not everyone is down on the retailer.

At least one analyst and J.C. Penney's CEO Marvin Ellison are at least somewhat hopeful the retailer can regain apparel sales strength, according to a Bloomberg report. The CEO cites the extension of a partnership with cosmetic leader Sephora and its expanding online merchandise portfolio as reasons for optimism.

"It is critical for us to improve the performance of the apparel segment," said Ellison, according to Bloomberg. "And although our overall apparel business struggled in the first quarter, we were encouraged by the strong customer response to our now-trending items in women's."

GlobalData Plc. retail analyst Neil Saunders told his clients in a note that while J.C. Penney has "much more work" ahead the spring fashion options "showed some signs of improvement."