J.C. Penney is still in the midst of getting its groove back and is rolling out the next phase of its reinvention: "shops-in shop." 

Think of them as little retail islands in the ocean of the J.C. Penney department store. Penney's is rolling out these individual shops for Levi's,  Arizona Jeans and something called I Jeans by Buffalo in 683 of its 1,100 stores by August 1.

The Levi's shop will feature a "denim bar" with 11 cuts and 88 washes as well as employees armed with iPads to facilitate mobile check-out. CEO Ron Johnson, formerly of Apple, brought that particular convenience over with him and mobile check-out will be available in all stores by the end of the year.

All of these little island shops will  debut in time for the back-to-school rush and in an attempt to draw in shoppers, Penney's will offer free haircuts to kids entering kindergarten or grade school. This will doubtlessly ease the profuse bleeding the chain has suffered during its rather painful makeover, but who can say no to a free haircut? [WWD, sub req'd]