Brooks Brothers’ Supima Cotton Dress Shirt is available for $60 in Brown Gingham, which is 53% off the original $128 price tag. The bestselling collared shirt owns a 4.9-star ra

Plano’s JCPenney and a retail company called Sparc Group announced a merger to form a new company in the market. The company, called Catalyst Brands,

Retailers are banding together for a massive operation based out of Texas that will see JCPenney merge with the parent company of Forever 21. Known as Catalyst Brands, the new company includes Aéropostale,

Catalyst includes brands whose IP is owned by Authentic and whose operations were run by Sparc — Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand and Nautica — plus J.C. Penney private labels and exclusives like Stafford, Arizona and Liz Claiborne.

It remains to be seen if merchandise bearing the names of brands like Aeropostale, Eddie Bauer and Nautica, all now aligned with JCPenney, will make their way into JCPenney stores.

Sparc Group, the parent company of Forever 21 and Aéropostale, announced it merged with JCPenney to create a new company called Catalyst Brands.

Sparc was formed in 2016 by Simon, Brookfield and Authentic Brands Group, and fast fashion retailer Shein was brought in as a minority owner in 2023.

Six retail stores – one of which still has a presence in the Chautauqua Mall – are merging to form a new organization. JCPenney and the SPARC Group are forming Catalyst Brands. Other SPARC Group brands include Aeropostale,

JCPenney merges with Sparc Group to form Catalyst Brands, combining six brands and boasting $9 billion in revenue.

Michelle Wlazlo, formerly JCPenney’s chief merchandising and supply chain officer, will serve as that brand’s CEO. Natalie Levy will oversee Aeropostale, Lucky Brand and Nautica, and Ken Ohashi will continue to lead Brooks Brothers, in addition to Eddie Bauer.

JCPenney is combining with the owner of fellow shopping mall staples Aéropostale and Lucky Brand after a merger of two brand portfolios in an all-equity transaction Wednesday.

The longtime local retailer and Sparc Group announced they have combined to form Catalyst Brands and will cover several brands: Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand and Nautica with JCPenney and its exclusive private brands, including Stafford, Arizona and Liz Claiborne.