JCPenney Doubling Down on the Baby Business

With the closure of all Babies ‘R’ Us stores in 2018, many retailers are hopeful of capturing a share of the brick-and-mortar spend that the closings represent, and JCPenney is no exception.

Taking a cue from its success with the store-within-a-store concept (with the likes of Sephora) and its move to stock appliances in 2016 to take advantage of Sears’ struggles, the company is placing “baby shops” within 500 of its stores staring this month. The new spaces will feature larger items like car seats, cribs, high chairs and strollers, along with a larger selection of baby clothes and supplies that the company has previously featured online but not instore.