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Retaildepartment store

J.C. Penney Is Closing These 138 Stores This Spring

Phil Wahba
By
Phil Wahba
Phil Wahba
Senior Writer
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Phil Wahba
By
Phil Wahba
Phil Wahba
Senior Writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 17, 2017, 11:14 AM ET

J.C. Penney on Friday released the list of the 138 stores it is closing as the retailer looks to get its turnaround back on track.

Last month, the struggling department store chain announced it would close up to 140 stores this spring in order to focus on improving its locations with the most potential.

Penney reported a 0.7% decline in comparable sales for the holiday quarter, the third period out of four last fiscal year to see business soften. The results were a setback for a retailer that had seen comparable sales grow in the previous two years as it clawed itself back from the brink after an ill fated attempted to be hipper in 2012. At their nadir, sales fell 33% because of that failed turnaround.

In 2015, Penney, which operates about 1,000 stores, told Fortune it would halt store closings last year, saying that its physical stores were key to supporting its resurgent e-commerce. Indeed, some one-third of orders are shipped from, or picked up in a store. But with comparable sales expected to be unchanged in 2016, it’s clearly hard for Penney to justify the same number of stores with annual sales at $12.6 billion as when they were $19 billion a decade ago.

So Penney, grappling like other department stores with decreasing store traffic and growing disinterest in that retail format, has decided to concentrate its efforts on stores that can do well as it expands its highly successful chain of Sephora boutiques within its stores, new appliance and home services areas, and upcoming Nike and adidas boutiques, and make sure they are up to snuff.

“Our decision to close stores will allow us to raise the overall brand standard of the Company and allocate capital more efficiently,” Penney CEO Marvin Ellison said last month.

The stores being closed generate less than 5% of total annual sales.
Penney has about 600 mall-based stores and another 400 smaller standalone stores in smaller markets. Those smaller locations make up the bulk of the closings, though some major mall-based stores like the Penney in King of Prussia, Pennsylvia and at Palisades Center in West Nyack, New York, one of the 10 largest malls in the country, are going out of business. Fellow department store chains Macy’s (M) and Sears (SHLD) are closing dozens of stores as well.

Here is a list of the J.C. Penney stores that are closing this spring:

Auburn Mall, Auburn, AL
Tannehill Promenade, Bessemer, AL
Gadsden Mall, Gadsden, AL
Jasper Mall, Jasper, AL
Military Plaza, Benton, AR
Chickasaw Plaza, Blytheville, AR
Riverview Mall, Bullhead City, AZ
Downtown Bishop, Bishop, CA
Sunwest Plaza, Lodi, CA
The Village at Orange, Orange, CA
Hilltop Mall, Richmond, CA
Fort Morgan Main St., Fort Morgan, CO
Glenwood Springs Mall, Glenwood Springs, CO
St. Vrain Centre, Longmont, CO
Broadway Plaza, Sterling, CO
Connecticut Post Mall, Milford, CT
Jacksonville Regional Shopping Center, Jacksonville, FL
Palatka Mall, Palatka, FL
Dublin Mall, Dublin, GA
Macon Mall, Macon, GA
Milledgeville Mall, Milledgeville, GA
Gateway Plaza, Thomasville, GA
Tifton Mall, Tifton, GA
Downtown Decorah, Decorah, IA
Crossroads Mall, Fort Dodge, IA
Penn Central Mall, Oskaloosa, IA
Quincy Place, Ottumwa, IA
Snake River Plaza, Burley ID
Eastland Mall, Bloomington, IL
Fulton Square, Canton, IL
Village Square Mall, Effingham, IL
Macomb, IL
Peru Mall, Peru, IL
Northland Mall, Sterling, IL
Centerpointe of Woodridge, Woodridge, IL
FairOaks Mall, Columbus, IN
Connersville Plaza, Connersville, IN
Huntington Plaza, Huntington, IN
Jasper Manor Center, Jasper, IN
Logansport Mall, Logansport, IN
Chanute Square, Chanute, KS
Downtown Great Bend, Great Bend, KS
Hutchinson Mall, Hutchinson, KS
Lawrence KS
Winfield Plaza, Winfield, KS
Cortana Mall, Baton Rouge, LA
Park Terrace, DeRidder, LA
North Shore Square, Slidell, LA
Berkshire Mall, Lanesborough, MA
Easton Marketplace, Easton, MD
Rockland Plaza, Rockland, ME
Lakeview Square Mall, Battle Creek, MI
Delta Plaza, Escanaba, MI,
Westshore Mall, Holland, MI
Copper Country Mall, Houghton, MI
Birchwood Mall, Kingsford, MI
Midland Mall, Midland, MI
Cascade Crossings, Sault Ste. Marie, MI
Central Lakes Crossing, Baxter, MN
Five Lakes Centre, Fairmont, MN
Faribo West Mall, Faribault, MN
Irongate Plaza. Hibbing, MN
Hutchinson Mall, Hutchinson, MN
Red Wing Mall, Red Wing, MN
Downtown Thief River Falls, Thief River Falls, MN
Winona MN
Maryville Center, Maryville, MO
Leigh Mall, Columbus, MS
Southgate Plaza, Corinth, MS
Greenville Mall, Greenville, MS
Bonita Lakes Mall, Meridian, MS
Oxford Mall, Oxford, MS
Capital Hill Mall, Helena, MT
Sidney Main Street, Sidney, MT
Albemarle Crossing, Albemarle, NC
Boone Mall, Boone, NC
Eastridge Mall, Gastonia, NC
Blue Ridge Mall, Hendersonville, NC
Monroe Crossing, Monroe, NC
Becker Village Mall, Roanoke Rapids, NC
Prairie Hills Mall, Dickinson, ND
Buffalo Mall, Jamestown, ND
Downtown Wahpeton, Wahpeton, ND
Fremont Mall, Fremont, NE
Downtown McCook, McCook, NE
Platte River Mall, North Platte, NE
Rio Grande Plaza, Rio Grande, NJ
The Boulevard, Las Vegas, NV
Dunkirk-Fredonia Plaza, Dunkirk, NY
Westfield Sunrise, Massapequa, NY
Palisades Center, West Nyack, NY
Findlay Village Mall, Findlay, OH
New Towne Mall, New Philadelphia, OH
Richmond Town Square, Richmond Heights, OH
St. Mary’s Square, St. Marys, OH
Altus Plaza, Altus, OK
Ne-Mar Shopping Center, Claremore, OK
Ponca Plaza, Ponca City,OK
Pioneer Square Shopping Center, Stillwater, OK
Astoria Downtown, Astoria, OR
Grants Pass Shopping Center, Grants Pass, OR
La Grande Downtown, La Grande, OR
Downtown Pendleton, Pendleton, OR
The Dalles Main Street, The Dalles, OR
Columbia Mall, Bloomsburg, PA
Clearfield Mall, Clearfield, PA
King of Prussia Mall, King of Prussia, PA
Philadelphia Mills, Philadelphia, PA
Bradford Towne Centre, Towanda, PA
Lycoming Mall, Pennsdale, PA
Willow Grove Park, Willow Grove, PA
Citadel Mall, Charleston, SC
Town ‘N Country, Easley, SC
Palace Mall, Mitchell, SD
Northridge Plaza, Pierre, SD
Watertown Mall, Watertown, SD
Yankton Mall, Yankton, SD
Greeneville Commons, Greeneville, TN
Knoxville Center, Knoxville, TN
County Market Place, Union City, TN
Athens Village Shopping Center, Athens, TX
Borger Shopping Plaza, Borger, TX
Heartland Mall, Early, TX
El Paso Downtown, El Paso, TX
Marshall Mall, Marshall,TX
McAllen, TX
University Mall, Nacogdoches, TX
King Plaza Shopping Center, Seguin TX
Bosque River Center, Stephenville TX
New River Valley Mall, Christiansburg, VA
Tanglewood Mall Roanoke, VA
Pilchuck Landing, Snohomish, WA
Pine Tree Mall, Marinette, WI
Marshfield Mall, Marshfield, WI
Richland Square Shopping Center, Richland Center WI
Rapids Mall, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Foxcroft Towne Center, Martinsburg, WV
Downtown Sheridan, Sheridan ,WY

 

About the Author
Phil Wahba
By Phil WahbaSenior Writer
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Phil Wahba is a senior writer at Fortune primarily focused on leadership coverage, with a prior focus on retail.

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