J.C. Penney will close 15 additional stores in the spring after shuttering more than 150 locations since filing for bankruptcy.
Liquidation sales at the affected stores are slated to begin in late December, the company told USA Today in a prepared statement.
“As part of our store optimization strategy that began in June with our financial restructuring, we have made the decision to close an additional 15 stores,” the statement read.
The latest closures, expected to be completed by the end of March, follow the department store chain’s November emergence from bankruptcy and subsequent purchase by mall owners Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management, Inc., USA Today reported.
The chain, one of the largest U.S. retailers to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, originally planned to shutter about 30% of its 846 locations, or 242 stores.
In its statement to USA Today, J.C. Penney stated that continual evaluation of its “store optimization strategy” has driven the closures in order to better position the chain to “drive sustainable, profitable growth.”
The following locations in 15 states are now slated to close by the end of March 2021, the company stated:
• Alabama: Enterprise Shopping Center, 626 Boll Weevil Circle (Enterprise)
• Arizona: Kingman Square Shopping Center, 3127 Stockton Hill Road (Kingman)
• Idaho: Silverlake Mall, 200 W. Hanley Ave. (Coeur d’Alene)
• Illinois: Cross County Mall, 700 Broadway Ave. (Mattoon)
• Kentucky: Chestnut Hills Mall, 720 N. 12th St. (Murray)
• Massachusetts: Sturbridge Plaza, 194 Main St. (Sturbridge)
• Michigan: 43690 Ford Road (Canton)
• Missouri: Southern Hills Center, 1414 Southern Hills Center (West Plains)
• North Carolina: Windsor Square, 10101 E Independence Blvd. (Matthews)
• Ohio: Fontaine Plaza, 1710 S. Main St. (Bellefontaine)
• Pennsylvania: Clarion Mall, 22631 Route 68 (Clarion)
• South Carolina: Sumter Mall, 1057 Broad St. (Sumter)
• Texas: Colonial/Temple Mall, 3111 S. 31st St. (Temple)
• Vermont: Green Mountain Mall, 1996 Memorial Drive (Saint Johnsbury)
• Washington: Sequim Village Shopping Center, 651 W. Washington (Sequim)
Cox Media Group