Joe Fresh Exiting J.C. Penney Stores in U.S.

Joe Fresh is pulling out of 200 J.C. Penney stores in the U.S. as the company works to build up its standalone store base and expand internationally.

The news comes two years after Joe Fresh debuted to much fanfare at 683 of the U.S. department store chain’s stores under the direction of CEO and former Apple executive Ron Johnson, who brought in a spate of new brands and reconfigured the retailer’s pricing strategy. His makeover attempts failed and Johnson was ousted after 16 months, and many of the new brands exited soon after. At the same time, Joe Fresh opened six standalone locations in New York and J.C. Penney winnowed its selection of the cheap chic apparel line down to 200 stores.