Avon and J.C Penney End Retail Alliance

J.C. Penney said Friday it would stop selling Avon’s beComing line, as well as most other cosmetics and skin care products, in order to have more room to expand and upgrade its woman’s accessories business, a hot-selling area for the retailer.

Avon said it will now sell its beComing products through sales representatives. “By offering beComing through our core business, we expect to accelerate sales of the brand, advance earnings for our Beauty Advisors, and attract new customers with a high-quality, premium product line,” Andrea Jung, Avon’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Avon said it did not expect the decision to move the brand to its direct-selling channel will affect 2003 earnings.

The venture lasted a little over two years, and was slated to begin with J.C. Penney and Sears, Roebuck and Co. to set up special “store-within-a-store” areas. But even before the stores opened, Sears pulled out of the venture as part of a larger change in its strategy.

Then the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. put the brakes on consumer spending-just as Avon was opening its stores at J.C. Penney. Avon said last month it would review the beComing business following the holidays.