J.C. Penney to close up to 140 stores, offer buyouts

[thelakelander]

J.C. Penney (JCP) plans to close 130 to 140 stores and offer buyouts to 6,000 workers as the department-store industry sags in competition with online sellers and nimble niche retailers.

The company said Friday that it would shutter 13% to 14% of its locations and introduce new goods and services aimed at the shifting preferences of its customer base.

The cuts come amid mounting challenges for once-stalwart department-store chains such as Macy's and Sears, which are aggressively closing stores and shedding costs as shoppers flock to alternatives.

"It became apparent to us that our footprint was too large," Penney CEO Marvin Ellison told investors, and the closures will "allow us to raise the overall brand standard of J.C. Penney" and invest in remaining stores.

A list of stores to close will be released in mid-March, and liquidation sales are expected to take place in the first or second quarter.

Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/

[FSBA]

Guess we need to start asking not if but when Regency loses another anchor store.

[JECJAX]

Let's hope we don't loose the Regency store.  It was recently remodeled and in my opinion the best JCP in JAX and always has been.  I'm in the area all the time and there are always patrons in there.  let's keep the Regency store open !

[I-10east]

With many traditional indoor malls around the country facing reality of possibly closing two anchors (the JCP, Sears, Macy's and Kohl's of the world) now is a time to seriously adapt or face slow extinction. IMO the bulk of the indoor mall closures around the country ( with people saying indoor malls are dead) happened in the Rust Belt/Midwest dying economies or a mall ANYWHERE taken over by crime (certainly arguably Regency falls in that category). Now that regressive criteria isn't foolproof, as many (safe profitable malls like the Orange Park Malls of the world) can now be effected thanks to the online world.

Just a side though, it's funny how Walmart is demonized for killing jobs (although mostly small business), and not amazon or EBay which is significantly being a far more serious threat to brick and mortar retail and the jobs that come with it.

[Adam White]

With many traditional indoor malls around the country facing reality of possibly closing two anchors (the JCP, Sears, Macy's and Kohl's of the world) now is a time to seriously adapt or face slow extinction. IMO the bulk of the indoor mall closures around the country ( with people saying indoor malls are dead) happened in the Rust Belt/Midwest dying economies or a mall ANYWHERE taken over by crime (certainly arguably Regency falls in that category). Now that regressive criteria isn't foolproof, as many (safe profitable malls like the Orange Park Malls of the world) can now be effected thanks to the online world.

Just a side though, it's funny how Walmart is demonized for killing jobs (although mostly small business), and not amazon or EBay which is significantly being a far more serious threat to brick and mortar retail and the jobs that come with it.

I remember my friend Tammy (owner of the Theory Shop in 5 points) complaining about the impact of "e-tailers" many years ago. Big box retail and online sales destroyed record shops.

[coredumped]

Target stock tanked over 12% this week, citing poor Christmas numbers due to online retailers.

Back on topic though, I used to regularly visit the regency JCP and it was very busy. Going back about 3 years ago though.

[remc86007]

Just a side though, it's funny how Walmart is demonized for killing jobs (although mostly small business), and not amazon or EBay which is significantly being a far more serious threat to brick and mortar retail and the jobs that come with it.

My guess is that people (older people especially) are more likely to blame something that they can "see." People have watched Walmarts build in towns like Live Oak and effectively demolish their local economy. The effect of e-commerce has been slower.

[coredumped]

That and no one really likes wal mart. Their customer service is terrible vs amazon.

[FlaBoy]

It's all a mixed bag. Walmart gets a lot more flack than Target but Target's demographics are too high for most rural communities. Walmart will build there. But is does hurt small businesses. At least in large metros, like Jax, Tampa, or Orlando, Amazon is building huge warehouses and creating jobs here. In Live Oak, if Walmart were to close, those jobs are gone and some small businesses may open as a result, but most of it is moving online without any benefit to them.

[Megabox]

Now you have the walk through a church to get to the other side of regency square mall. You used to have to walk through a store. I always found it strange how you had to walk through a store to get to the other side of the mall. The only anchors left at regency square mall are JCPenney and Dillard's, and the Dillard's there got downgraded to a clearance center which only uses the first floor.

[Megabox]

JCPenney recently added a major appliance section to their stores that sell appliances like dishwashers, refrigerators, stoves, washing machines and dryers. The JCPenney at the Avenues Mall put the appliance section where they used to have a furniture section.

JCPenney has started selling major appliances again (after quitting in 1983) to compete with the other mall store Sears. Sears and JCPenney are often located in the same malls.

[Megabox]

List of the stores closing has just come out.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/03/17/jcpenney-store-closure-list-j-c-penney/99298728/

Looks like the one at Regency Square Mall isn't closing, however there is one in Jacksonville that is, the JCPenney at Jacksonville Regional Shopping Center.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.4360655,-81.6998022,3a,60y,264.28h,88.93t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sEKxrugMZoginMucZhjsf-Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[thelakelander]

I guess that wraps it up for Palatka Mall...