New Fruit of the Loom Program at JCPenney and Old Navy?

Fruit of the Loom Display at Old Naby

Slightly old news, but if you haven’t been to JCPenney lately, you might want to pay them a visit and check out the new Fruit of the Loom Premium underwear collection.

I came across the JCP news on the Fruit of the Loom Facebook page earlier this month, but I also heard from a friend that Old Navy was also doing some testing with the new FOTL Premium underwear collection at some of their stores. Here to the right is a shot of the FOTL program at one of the Old Navy stores.

Looks like my buddies over at Fruit.com are going after some new retail markets, and doing it in a very smart way. Partnering with Old Navy and switching out their BVD line for the Premium FOTL line at JCP makes a lot of sense on so many levels.

First off, FOTL does underwear – and does it pretty darn good. When you have major retailers trying to offer their own private-label products, like underwear, it sometimes (not all the time) misses the mark. So, I love these partnerships because it combines the very best of both worlds — a large retail footprint with high-value products.

Mobile webpage for Fruit of the Loom products - Links to OldNavy.com?

What I find a little unusual, is that there is very little information (practically nothing) about these new programs out on the web.

I would have figured that there would have been some press releases or something like that, but all I could find is a mobile-friendly section of the Fruit.com website that appears to be pointing to their products at OldNavy.com. The only problem is, the FOTL products aren’t listed on the OldNavy.com website yet.

Either I found something relatively new, or possibly old. I’m not really sure.

Maybe someone from Fruit can drop me a line and give the scoop?

23 thoughts on “New Fruit of the Loom Program at JCPenney and Old Navy?”

  1. i know im late to the party, but i really liked the older old navy undershirts, they fit perfectly and lasted years. i still have a couple of them in my closet, and they still are hanging on.

    Reply
  2. I just picked up your blog online as I was looking for some BVD boxer briefs at a premium price. I didn’t find what I was searching for, but I did sign up for your newsletter. I also read some of the comments and picked up some info on FOTL boxer briefs which may be the answer to my search. I am going to give them a shot. I have used FOTL in the past and got excellent wear out of them, but preferred the BVDs I had because of the extra space in the crotch. However, the comments I read about FOTL briefs have convinced me that they may provide exactly what I am looking for – comfort and durability. Thanks for the opportunity to comment.

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  3. I have to say, as a picky underwear and t-shirt guy, these new FOL Premium boxer briefs are definitely thicker, more comfortable, more durable than my Calvin Klein, Nautica, or Joseph Abboud boxer briefs.

    I was in JCP returning a hideous sweater my mother bought me so I had 22.00 in store credit. I searched and came up with a pack of the Fruit of the Loom Premium boxer-briefs mainly because they had good colors and no silly buttons on the front of the fly (who unbuttons their boxers anyway?!!!). Little did I know how much I would enjoy wearing these. After a dozen washes apiece they still look new. Material is thick and comfortable.

    Rarely do I review a clothing Item but the darn boxer briefs ROCK! More shopping at JCP for me! Now I want to try their under shirts.

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  4. Hi Tug! I havent been here in a while because of the cold New England winter but I have gotten out and looked for t-shirts. I like plain white ones and my main thing was I wanted the sleeves to be at least to the mid bicep no shorter. I did a thourogh search at TJ Maxx since they have various Mall(Macy’s) brands but all had the high sleeve. I ended up at Target and returning to my trusted brand Hanes. If you get your size you are usually good to go providing that you like something very basic. Whatever you do and this goes for everyone is if you go to Walmart and see any leftover “Jockey Life” T’s on sale, don’t buy them! They are seamless at the collar which ISN’T a good thing. they will sag in no time and by the way, Hanes seems to be the only brand that wised up and double stitched the Neck.

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    • hey harry, great information buddy! thanks for stopping back by and sharing that info.

      i’ve heard others say good things about jockey life brand undershirts, so with your feedback, i’m a little conflicted on what to think. i don’t think i have any life-brand products in my inventory, but i know i have plenty of jockey-brand stuff. i’ll double check and see if i have have any of those seamless-collared undershirts.

      time will tell my friend (: thanks again for sharing the info!!

      Reply
  5. Hey Tug,

    I have about these underwear and undershirts fruit of the loom premium at old navy. I am going to tomorrow to check them out. But just a side note: Old Navy used to sell boxer briefs by jockey. Talk to you soon.

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      • Hey Tug,

        I am actually wearing the undershirt right now. I am a-shirt man, they are soft and comfortable. the salesman at old navy told me that the undershirts are old navy but just using the fotl packaging. They feel great!!! But I will let you know after I wash them, those results will be posted as for now, I will recommend them. You get 4 in a pack and they run abt $13.50 a pack.

        Peace

      • heya shawn, thanks for stopping back by and providing an update. glad to hear those fotl undershirts from old navy are soft!

        let me tell you — i don’t really think the salesman knows what he’s talking about. i highly doubt fruit of the loom would let old navy manufacture an item and put it in fotl packaging. he might mean that those fotl undershirts are made specifically for old navy (by fotl) — or he only knows what he’s been told.

        let us know how they feel and fit post wash. can’t wait to hear how they perform. keep me posted.

      • Hey tug, after washing them a few times, they still feel soft and fit wonderfully. the color of the whites stay white and the black and grey stay black and grey. no fading or holes found when drying them. they are a keeper for sure.

  6. I saw these Fruit of the Looms at Old Navy about a year ago (2011) and I just love these t-shirts. I don’t know if anybody remembers this but if you wore Fruit of the loom T’s when they still had tags, did you ever notice after you washed them, they softened nicely and weren’t paper thin? Well I notice that this is back with the Fruit of the Loom premium brand. I also don’t find anything about this at Old Navy’s website but I give these T-shirts a grade of B.

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    • hey harry, thanks for stopping by my site and sharing your opinion on the premium fruit of the loom undershirts!

      grade “b” seems pretty darn good. i’ll have to check them out – i’ve been so busy, i haven’t been undershirt shopping in months! ouch!

      i gotta hit up jcp and old navy sometime soon (:

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      • Hey Tug This a great site since I have been buying T-shirts for years and must have tried every brand in creation. I mostly wore The Jockey brand and I had a few Calvin Kleins which was mostly during the 1980s. My all time favorite T-shirt which I sorely miss was by Jockey and was called the “Bo’sun” shirt. Just a simple white T with a higher neck and longer sleeves. I will never forget those they were like a dream for me but alas they stopped making them and I can’t see how such a perfect T didn’t sell. What I am really curious about though is T-shirts on TV. I tried and tried but I really would like to know what brand was James Dean wearing In Rebel without a cause or what brand did “The Fonz” wear on happy days? In any case I am currently wering the Fruit of the Loom Premiums which I quite good. I MIGHT settle on these.

      • yo harry! thanks for stopping by my site and posting your comments and question!

        i wish i could tell you what t-shirts james dean and henry winkler were wearing back in those days — i suspect if we could find out, and if someone brought them back, we might just start an undershirt buying frenzy that would crash webservers and prompt stampedes in stores.

        it does remind me of a book that a friend gave me: the white t, by alice harris. great historical reference for the famous, yet simple white t. i don’t recall seeing any brand names referenced in the book, but i’ll check in the next couple of days and see if there’s anything there. if there is, i’ll update you here.

        thanks again buddy!

  7. I was not happy to walk in JCPenney yesterday to find they no longer carry the men’s BVD boxer briefs…I can’t even find them online now! It took me years to find something that fit me perfectly and now they are gone. Sucks. I tried the FOTL replacements which are very close, but it is not the same.

    Reply
    • hey dude! sorry to hear about that. there’s a good amount of activity in the underwear/undershirt market and companies have to discontinue under-performing lines.

      while i’m not totally clear on the company’s plans for bvd, there are a couple of bad signs:
      1. removal of bvd brand products from stores
      2. the bvdapparel website redirects to the fruit.com website
      3. there is no bvd apparel on the fruit.com website

      Reply
    • the folks at fotl just emailed me. here’s what they had to say about fotl vs. bvd:

      • The closest thing to the regular BVD boxer briefs is the Fruit of the Loom Premium line which I know it sounds like The Dude has already tried.
      • If the Dude is looking for BVD sports products then any cotton spandex boxer brief will feel the same.
      • Technically, the only difference between the Fruit of the Loom Premium Boxer Brief and the BVD is that the BVD was made with four panels, while the Premiums are made with three. By removing a panel the underwear should not bunch as much, which is why we got rid of the panel.

      by the way, totally disregard anything i wrote about gildan (now removed). i think i was responding to two comments at the same time and got some copy mixed up. ooops!

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      • Thanks for the reply and extra research. I’m giving the FOTL a try. As mentioned before, they are very close to the BVD, but maybe a little thicker. They are also a little tighter around the most important area, although maybe they will stretch a little over time. Perhaps the tightness comes from the higher quality being less forgiving then the lesser quality? Who knows. The BVD’s would eventually get holes in the seems near the inner thighs so maybe the FOTL will last longer. I never had any issue with the BVD bunching up but no issues with the FOTL either. Oh well, maybe these will be fine.

      • my pleasure! my evolve boxer briefs – ones that i love and got a while ago — are now getting holes too. i’ve been sadly and reluctantly throwing them away one by one. i would definitely “get shit” from mrs. tug if i kept them too much longer, so i’ve been slowly parting with them.

        i usually have a tough time finding underwear that fit me well or make me feel uncomfortable in the front. even though many of the new underwear styles include a “contour pouch”, they don’t seem to contoured enough for a comfortable all day fit. though, a friend just gave me a sample pair of underwear from mypakage.com, and those are really comfortable. i also just tried out some compression boxer briefs from proskins and think they’re really nice too. the proskins trunks aren’t designed with any contouring in front, but the fabric is pretty forgiving so i never feel “smushed”.

        anyway, i hope you dig your new fotl premium undies.

  8. This is good to see. I like Fruit of the Loom’s low-rise ‘fashion briefs’ for their fit, comfort and low price. But they can be difficult to find, so good to see them here.

    Reply

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