Canine-fur coats make comeback at J.C. Penney

[Judi Lynn]

Jan. 13, 2007, 12:49AM
Canine-fur coats make comeback at J.C. Penney

By DAVID KOENIG
Associated Press

DALLAS — J.C. Penney Co. removed some fur-trimmed coats from its racks around Christmas after animal-rights activists objected that the fur came from wild dogs in China.

Last week, the department-store company put the coats back on the racks — but only after directing employees to use marker pens to blot out the line on the label that identified the trim as raccoon fur.

The fur-collared leather coats were sold under the house brands St. John's Bay and a.n.a., and by this week they were marked down at a Penney's in Dallas from the original $349.99 to $74.99. About two dozen remained.

"We sold a lot of them during Christmas," said a saleswoman at a Penney store in North Carolina who spoke on condition of anonymity because she feared losing her job. "I hope people who bought those coats aren't animal lovers. But I guess if they're wearing fur, they're not."

By putting the coats back on the racks, Penney is charting a different course than rival Macy's, which last month pulled Sean John jackets after they turned out to contain the same fur. Macy's said it has a policy against selling products with dog fur.
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