BISOU BISOU Coming to JCPenney in Exclusive Agreement; Trend-Setting Contemporary Designer Brand In Stores In February.

Business Editors

PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2002

The J. C. Penney Company, Inc., (NYSE:JCP) and BISOU BISOU, one of the hottest designer brands in contemporary sportswear, announced today that JCPenney department stores will be the exclusive North American retailer of BISOU BISOU apparel beginning in February 2003.

BISOU BISOU Designer and President Michele Bohbot's trend-setting fashions have attracted a devoted, international following among celebrities and the fashion-savvy. "I am thrilled to join with JCPenney to design for the modern American woman on a greater scale," said Ms. Bohbot, who with her husband, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Marc Bohbot, founded BISOU BISOU in 1989. "With JCPenney we will make our newest fashions available to more women at an affordable price, so a woman doesn't have to spend a million to look like a million."

BISOU BISOU will design monthly collections of fresh, quality fashion merchandise that will be featured in 500 larger JCPenney department stores across the country. In-store shops will be merchandised with the brand's fashion-forward women's apparel, all at irresistably affordable prices. Unique fixturing and visual images from the brand's advertising campaign will highlight the collection.

"BISOU BISOU will add tremendous energy and distinction to our women's offering," said Vanessa Castagna, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JCPenney Stores, Catalog and Internet. "Michele and Marc Bohbot are a fabulous team and I know they are as excited as we are about the opportunity to reach more women with their unique brand of fashion."

The initial BISOU BISOU collection for JCPenney will be introduced at a launch party in New York on Jan. 23.

Both French and born in Morocco, Michele and Marc Bohbot met in their teens, fell passionately in love and were married three and a half months later. Since that time they have been partners in the true sense of the word. In 1989 they founded and launched BISOU BISOU, French slang for "a little kiss." Michele Bohbot has been honored with the Dallas Fashion Award and as one of The Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World(TM) in 2002. In August of this year, the Bohbots were honored by the MDA as the recipients of American Visionary Award.

Marc and Michele Bohbot have brought their own unique visionary talent to the apparel industry with BISOU BISOU. Michele Bohbot has combined her creativity as a designer with her love of Yoga, her busy multifaceted lifestyle of family, career and travel. The Bohbots create unique brands that epitomize the future of fashion.

J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc., the wholly-owned operating subsidiary of the Company, is one of America's largest department store, drugstore, catalog, and e-commerce retailers, employing approximately 250,000 associates. As of July 27, 2002, it operated 1,068 JCPenney department stores in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, and 54 Renner department stores in Brazil. Eckerd Corporation operated 2,642 drugstores throughout the Southeast, Sunbelt, and Northeast regions of the U.S. JCPenney Catalog, including e-commerce, is the nation's largest catalog merchant of general merchandise. J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc. is a contributor to JCPenney Afterschool Fund, a charitable organization committed to providing children with high quality after school programs to help them reach their full potential.