Marisa Thalberg to Head Marketing for the New Combination of JCPenney, SPARC Group

JCPenney and SPARC Group joined forces to form Catalyst Brands, a new combination of iconic retail brands uniting Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand and Nautica with JCPenney and its exclusive private brands, which include Arizona, Liz Claiborne, and Stafford.

The new company also revealed that it sold off the U.S. operations of Reebok and is exploring strategic options for the operations of Forever 21.

Marisa Thalberg, who joined JCPenney in a consulting chief marketing officer role last October, will serve as chief customer and marketing officer of Catalyst Brands.

Thalberg announced the position in a LinkedIn post Thursday, and told ADWEEK she was confident in the skills she honed through decades of senior marketing roles, but balanced it with humility. “You come in knowing there’s a lot you don’t know,” she said.

Prior to joining JCPenney, Thalberg had been chief marketing and communications officer at United Parks & Resorts—parent company of theme park brands including Aquatica, Busch Gardens, Discovery Cove, SeaWorld, and Sesame Place—since April 2023. Before that, she held senior marketing roles at Lowe’s and Taco Bell.

JCPenney stressed when announcing Thalberg’s hire last October that it was a consulting CMO role, and not a fractional CMO role, and it ultimately gave her the chance to gain a wealth of knowledge about the company and its operations before coming on board full-time.

Thalberg told ADWEEK, “When it works, it becomes a really, really beautiful alchemy. It’s really satisfying to be able to write that follow-up post.”

Her First 90 Days

It has been 90 days since Thalberg joined JCPenney, and while the retailer boasts a rich, 122-year history, she found that “a lot of people don’t have a modern perception of it.”

Thalberg noted its focus on fashion for all ages and all body sizes, telling ADWEEK, “We know how people are feeling about the economy. Most people want really nice things that make them feel good at really great values.”

She added, “There is some real momentum happening at JCPenney, and my goal is to build on that and grow it significantly.”

Introducing Catalyst Brands

Catalyst Brands is a joint venture formed via an all-equity transaction between JCPenney and SPARC Group, along with shareholders Authentic Brands Group, Brookfield, Shein, and Simon Property Group.

The company launches with more than $9 billion of revenue, 1,800 store locations, 60,000 employees, and $1 billion of liquidity, and its combined brands have served over 60 million customers over the past three years.

Marc Rosen will be CEO of Catalyst Brands, with three brand CEOs reporting to him: Michelle Wlazlo, former chief merchandising and supply chain officer at JCPenney; Natalie Levy, continuing her role as brand CEO of Aéropostale, Lucky Brand and Nautica; and Ken Ohashi, who will continue leading Brooks Brothers and assume responsibility for Eddie Bauer.

“Taking this collective expertise and going from mono-brand to multi-brand can really leverage our scale,” Thalberg told ADWEEK. “Each individual banner will continue to find the best versions of themselves in the marketplace.”

Former Walmart executive Kevin Harper will join Catalyst Brands as chief operating officer, and the company will be based out of JCPenney’s current headquarters in Plano, Texas, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle.

“Our relationships with more than 60 million customers and the deep data we have create a compelling consumer value proposition across our brands,” Rosen said in a statement. “We can design a more personalized shopping experience, offer unified loyalty and credit card programs, and ultimately, cross-sell more effectively. That’s one example of the many benefits we’ll see in this combination. With a clean balance sheet, we’re in great position to move forward.”