It remains to be seen if merchandise bearing the names of brands like Aeropostale, Eddie Bauer and Nautica, all now aligned with JCPenney, will make their way into JCPenney stores.

The 123-year-old department store chain and SPARC Group have combined to form Catalyst Brands, the new company said in a news release on Wednesday, Jan. 8. SPARC Group is the operator of stores ...