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After a challenging year and outstanding payments owed to brands, the partnership between diversity-focused retailer Thirteen Lune and department store JCPenney has ended.
On May 5, a landing page for Thirteen Lune’s beauty selection on JCPenney’s website was changed to the retailer’s larger beauty assortment. In a statement sent to The Business of Beauty, a media representative for JCPenney confirmed the news. “JCPenney is no longer working with Thirteen Lune and will continue to work directly with the brands that we have been carrying at JCPenney Beauty through our established vendor relationships.”
Thirteen Lune founder Nyakio Grieco declined to comment on the partnership, but said she is “excited for Thirteen Lune’s next chapter.”
Following an acquisition by SNR Capital in 2024 through a bankruptcy alternative process, Grieco and SNR’s principals were sued by investors who alleged fraud and attempted to undo the sale. Grieco’s lawyer has called the case “frivolous” and said they will be fighting it. According to a source familiar with the matter, the JCPenney partnership ended “soon” after the lawsuit was filed in March 2025.
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The partnership, which launched in 2021, expanded Thirteen Lune shops to 609 JCPenney locations. At its height, 70 brands filled the assortment. The number of brands eventually decreased to fewer than 40. The agreement was restructured in 2024 in a “mutual decision to change our working relationship such that JCPenney purchases directly from the brands,” according to a JCPenney statement.
Learn more:
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