Dallas Cowboys and J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) have partnered in a move that will see the retailer sell exclusive merchandise from the football club in the team’s home territory. Beginning this Friday the exclusive merchandise consisting of Training Camp tee-shirts belonging to Cowboys will be sold in JCPenney’s retail outlets located in Dallas-Fort Worth at a price of $20. JCPenney’s retail outlets located in Arlington and Frisco will be stocking the highest number of Cowboys tee-shirts since they are located closest to the football club.
Only rewards members of JCPenney will get the shirts however and this will be while stocks last. Shoppers can enroll for the Rewards program at cash register. One shopper is only allowed to buy a maximum of four shirts.
Pass and voucher
After buying the shirt, shoppers will get a credit which will act as a pass granting them access to a Cowboys training session for one day. The pass also comes with a $10 voucher with which the holders can buy drinks or food at the training camp.
While JCPenney expects the promotion to be a huge success, Steve Dennis, the president of Sageberry Consulting, a retail strategy firm, noted that in order to increase sales, the retailer would need more such initiatives and not just one.
“You need to have dozens of those types of things to really move the dial. But you can try, and if it works, try a similar thing. If it doesn’t, you move on,” said Dennis.
Exclusive merchandise
In order to shore up revenues, exclusive and private merchandise has been identified by CEO Marvin Ellison as key to the effort to boost sales. J.C. Penney has consequently formed a partnership with designer Nicole Miller and talkshow host and ex-football player Michael Strahan to create exclusive apparel that will only be available at the retailer’s outlets.
According to Ellison this will provide a differentiating factor besides allowing the retailer to enjoy a growth in growth margins. The retailer will also be introducing toy shops in its stores.
On Wednesday shares of J C Penney rose by 2.44% to close the day at $5.04.