JC Penney Closing Palestine Location
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
EAST TEXAS – It appears as if the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed yet another retail victim. Stores such as Nieman Marcus, Stage and J. Crew all filed for bankruptcy during the month of May. JC Penney did as well and now it appears as if the Palestine Mall’s last anchor store – from when it originally opened in 1980 – is about to close.
While Palestine is excited about the new Chick-Fil-A restaurant being constructed in the mall’s parking lot, inside of the mall itself, the mood is less celebratory.
According to the JC Penney website, “Following a comprehensive review of our retail footprint, JC Penney made the difficult decision to close 154 stores. We will continue to operate the majority of our stores and our flagship store, jcp.com, to ensure our valued customers continue to have access to the products and brands they need and want. Please see below for a list of closing locations.”
Among the area JC Penny stores slated for closure are:
- The Palestine Mall location in Palestine.
- The West Hills Mall location in Huntsville.
- The Lufkin Shopping Center location in Lufkin.
A June 4 news release indicated the company expects additional phases of store closing sales to begin in the coming weeks. The news release furthered the retailers intentions were “… to reduce its store footprint and focus resources on its strongest stores and powerful eCommerce flagship store, jcp.com. Store closing sales for the first round of store closures are expected to take 10-16 weeks to complete.”
JC Penny CEO Jill Soltau stated, “While closing stores is always an extremely difficult decision, our store optimization strategy is vital to ensuring we emerge from both Chapter 11 and the COVID-19 pandemic as a stronger retailer with greater financial flexibility to allow us to continue serving our loyal customers for decades to come. I am incredibly grateful to our talented associates for their ongoing dedication and their passion for meeting and exceeding our customers’ expectations during this difficult and uncertain time. All impacted associates will be treated with the utmost consideration and respect.”
The retailer was founded was founded in Kemmerer, Wyoming, in 1902 by James Cash Penney and was one of the first department stores in the United States. Recently, however, the company has been on a downturn as people turn to online retailers. JC Penney has faced financial trouble for several years, and filed for Chapter 11 on May 15.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
