J.C. Penney to Close Down 138 Stores

By Edward Leano, Christian Post Contributor Monday, March 20, 2017

J.C. Penney has followed through its February announcement that it will be closing down 140 store branches in the United States. Last Friday, March 17, the department store chain listed the locations of the 138 stores that it will be shutting down nationwide.

This reveal follows about a month later after J.C. Penney had said that it would close stores this year similar to earlier announcements from retail chains Macy's and Sear's, according to a report by CNBC. This move was made in response to competition from online retailers such as Amazon.

J.C. Penney chief executive officer Marvin Ellison explained the reason for the shutdowns in a statement he made in February. "We believe closing stores will allow us to adjust our business to effectively compete against the growing threat of online retailers," Ellison said a few weeks ago.

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The stores that are about to be closed contribute less than five percent of total annual sales, according to Fortune. The department store chain will be closing down stores in an effort to concentrate on their locations that have growth potential. J.C. Penney estimates that the company could save about $200 million a year after shutting down these locations, and plan to focus on online operations, improving their best-performing branches, and servicing their $4.3-billion long-term debt.

There are troubled times ahead for retail, as CNN points out. Other retailers are also in trouble, according to a report released by Moody's Investor Service. Nineteen other retailers, which include Sears, Kmart, Payless, J. Crew and Claires, are also in distress mode, and there are other troubling signs for other chains as well.

Target has been contending with diving stocks since its latest earning reports revealed dismal holiday sales, and Neiman Marcus has already been shopping around for a buyout. Staples has already announced earlier this month that it will be shutting another batch of 70 stores, while The Limited has already announced that they are doing away with all their retail locations.

Here's the list of stores in J.C. Penney's latest announcement.