A JCPenney store will close in weeks and customers can now score a bargain in clearance sales.
The exit in Waterville, Maine – about 75 miles from Portland – will close permanently until September 22.
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Signs informing customers about discounts and store closures were placed outside the premises and in windows, for The Waterville Morning Sentinel.
Item prices have been reduced by 20-50%.
A spokesperson told the Morning Sentinel that bosses were unable to reach a lease agreement with the landlord.
“Regrettably, we were unable to renew our current lease with the landlord for this store and were unable to find another suitable location in the market,” they said.
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JCPenney fans were dismayed by the News of closure.
“Why is JCP going? I know a lot of people who shop there. There’s nothing like it in Waterville,” said one customer.
Another fan said they were sad that the JCPenney store was about to close.
They said they preferred shopping locally instead of Walmart.
Shoppers reminisced about how they used to shop for clothes ranging from back-to-school outfits to prom attire at the JCPenney store.
Chris Weeks said the JCPenney store smelled the same as it did 30 years ago, according to The Morning Sentinel.
The Reny’s: A Maine Adventure store will occupy the space vacated by JCPenney.
The new store is expected to open in spring 2025, according to reports.
The company will employ between 25 and 40 people.
There are more than a dozen Reny’s stores located in Maine and the chain is present in the main cities of Portland and Bangor.
The chain has been a presence on the Maine retail scene since 1949, when the first store opened.
Some shoppers said the news was bittersweet as they enjoyed going to Reny’s stores but lamented JCPenney’s pending closure.
OTHER CLOSINGS
The JCPenney outlet in Waterville isn’t the only JCPenney outlet that will close around September 22.
The US Sun reported that a store in Wichita Falls, Texas, will also close on that date, as will an outlet in Mobile, Alabama.
And the pending closures come just a few years after the chain emerged from bankruptcy.
In 2020, there were about 850 JCPenney stores all over the countrybut this number has been reduced to about 650.
JCPenney, a presence on the American retail scene since 1900, is not the only chain that has seen store closures.
Hundreds of rue21 stores are preparing to close their doors after bosses filed for bankruptcy.
In April, it was reported that dozens of Express clothing stores across the country would be closed.
Hundreds of Family Dollar and CVS drugstores are also set to close this year as bosses reduce their store portfolio.
More than 3,000 stores are expected to close across the country this year, according to data from Coresight.
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Where are Express stores closing?
Some states are losing more stores than others:
- California – 16 stores closing
- New York – 11 stores closing
- New Jersey – 7 stores closing
- Texas, Florida – 5 stores closing each
- Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois – 4 stores each closing
- Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts – 3 stores each closing
- Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin – 2 stores each closing
- Arizona, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Nevada, Rhode Island, Tennessee – 1 store closing each
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
