SHOPPERS worried about where they will shop as four JCPenney stores are set to close.
The store closures come after JCPenney opened a store in New Jersey.
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The company announced that three stores will close before September 22, and the last one will close next year.
The first stores to close will be the Shoppes at Bel Air in Mobile, Alabama; Sikes Senter in Wichita Falls, Texas; and Elm Plaza in Waterville, Maine.
The store at the Westfield Annapolis Mall in Annapolis, Maryland, will close sometime in 2025.
“Regrettably, we are unable to continue with our current lease terms for these stores and have been unable to find suitable locations in the market,” the company said, reports. Diving into Retail.
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“We are grateful to our dedicated associates and loyal customers who have shopped at these locations over the years. We continue to work to make every dollar count for America’s diverse working families and invite them to shop at our other area JCPenney stores and at JCPenney.com.”
The company has been steadily closing stores over the years, shrinking from more than 1,000 locations to just 663.
In 2020, JCPenney filed for bankruptcy when it still had 846 locations.
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
Customers at the Wichita Falls location were dismayed to learn of the closure and questioned the future of retail in the area.
“There will be nothing left in this city”, he wrote a person in a Facebook post.
“I hate that they closed Dillard’s and now they’re closing Penney’s. That’s terrible — what do we have left?” another customer wrote.
“Dillard’s is now Penney’s… What’s left in the mall? It’s better to close it down,” a third shopper added.
A BIGGER PROBLEM
The retail sector has seen hundreds of closures in the last year.
In April, fashion retailer Express announced it was filing for bankruptcy and closing 95 stores.
The company has 553 Express stores and 10 UpWest stores, another store it owns.
Customers can expect store closures in the following states:
- California – 16
- New York – 11
- New Jersey – 7
- Texas, Florida – 5
- Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois – 4
- Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts – 3
- Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin – 2
- Arizona, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Nevada, Rhode Island, Tennessee – 1
Closeout locations are having clearance sales for up to 80% off.
“The hottest new club in New York is the Express closing sales in Times Square,” said one customer joked.
JCPenney Closings
JCPenney announced four locations will close.
The following locations will close until September 22nd:
The final location at Westfield Annapolis Mall in Annapolis, Maryland will close in 2025.
“$8 pants! Store accessories! 80% off shoes! An escalator that doesn’t work! It has everything.”
A popular supermarket is also closing stores but offering customers a way to get groceries.
Five Guys is also closing a location and customers think the reason is the high price.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
