JCPenney, Joe Fresh End Partnership

 JCPenney (Fort Worth, Texas) and discount apparel retailer Joe Fresh (Toronto) will end its distribution partnership when the companies’ current contract ends next year. According to Racked, executives say the split was mutual, but analysts have called the two-year-old program “not what the JCPenney customer wanted,” and a “bad fit” for Joe Fresh.

JCPenney, under then-CEO Ron Johnson, had hoped the in-store shops would attract a younger customer, but sales have not panned out. Representatives for Joe Fresh say the company will focus on its stand-alone stores and e-commerce, strengthening its core Canadian business, international expansion.

Stores in Mexico and Latin America will begin to roll out this summer.