Leveraging its competency in developing, designing and marketing powerful private brands, J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) today announced the launch of a new private brand of home furnishings and accessories called Linden Street. The launch of Linden Street signifies JCPenney's continuing commitment to deliver style and quality at a smart price through brands that create an emotional connection across its customers' lifestyles. The most comprehensive Home brand launch in Company history, Linden Street will be available in-stores, online on jcp.com and via catalog beginning in July.

Offering all the comforts of home, Linden Street is a neo-traditional brand that includes contemporary interpretations of classic design, providing a casual, comfortable and inviting style with today's young families in mind. Built on standard pieces that can be personalized and updated throughout the seasons and years, Linden Street's decor provides a lived-in, relaxed look, transforming homes into a cozy retreat. The collection balances both masculine and feminine attributes and is perfect for entertaining friends and family without formality. Additionally, features built into the furniture such as hidden storage, electrical outlets and charging strips -- for PDAs, iPods and more -- add functionality to the collection -- an aspect that is increasingly sought after by today's consumers.

"There's no better way to make an emotional connection with our customers than to help them create a home that truly reflects their personal style. Linden Street blends the best of traditional and contemporary designs with eclectic components, offering customers a lifestyle assortment that will evolve with their home throughout the years," said Jeff Allison, executive vice president of home for JCPenney. "Never before has an initial brand launch in Home included such a holistic approach to serving our neo-traditional customers' lifestyle preference -- it's a testament that we believe this exciting new lifestyle brand will truly resonate with our customers."

Designed, developed and sourced in-house, Linden Street joins JCPenney's array of good/better/best priced lifestyle offerings in Home including: The JCPenney Home Collection for the conservative and traditional lifestyle customer; Chris Madden; Chris Madden Hotel; and the exclusive brand, American Living, for the traditional lifestyle customer; and Studio for the modern lifestyle customer. With its harmonic blend of traditional and contemporary styles offering a classic, timeless design, Linden Street will fill a neo-traditional lifestyle niche within JCPenney's Home assortment.

"With 45 percent of our annual revenue coming from our private brands, Linden Street is yet another exciting addition to our robust portfolio of private brands, which continue to address our customers' diverse lifestyle needs and deliver above average gross margin to the business," said Ken Hicks, president and chief merchandising officer for JCPenney. "This expansive new brand delivers on an important -- and currently underserved -- customer segment while broadening our Home offering, allowing us to expand our appeal and relevancy to customers with various needs, tastes, aspirations and budgets."

Added Hicks, "During this challenging economic environment, our objective is to continue to innovate, ensuring that when customers are buying for their homes, they do it at JCPenney."

Linden Street will feature a complete line of bedding, bath, window coverings, area rugs, lighting and decorative accessories, along with furniture for all the rooms of the house. All colors, fabrics and textures coordinate to create a unique and personalized style, while furniture features both pine and cherry finishes. Linden Street will fall into JCPenney's good and better pricing categories with retail prices ranging from $40-$400 for bedding; $40-$50 for window drapery; $100-$380 for lighting; $30-$400 for area rugs; $14 for bath towels; $19.99-$300 for decorative accessories; $7.99-$199.99 for tabletop; and $1,399-$1,959 for furniture.

About JCPenney

JCPenney is one of America's leading retailers, operating 1,073 department stores throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as one of the largest apparel and home furnishing sites on the Internet, jcp.com, and the nation's largest general merchandise catalog business. Through these integrated channels, JCPenney offers a wide array of national, private and exclusive brands which reflect the Company's commitment to providing customers with style and quality at a smart price. Traded as "JCP" on the New York Stock Exchange, the Company posted revenue of $19.9 billion in 2007 and is executing its strategic plan to be the growth leader in the retail industry. Key to this strategy is JCPenney's "Every Day Matters" brand positioning, intended to generate deeper, more emotionally driven relationships with customers by fully engaging the Company's 155,000 Associates to offer encouragement, provide ideas and inspire customers every time they shop with JCPenney.