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

[TexasTowelie]

Source: USA Today

J.C. Penney (JCP) plans to close up 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 stores, representing about 5% of its annual sales, and two distribution centers.

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.

Penney expects to save $200 million in annual costs in connection with the plan but will record an initial pre-tax charge of $225 million to cover the closure costs.

Read more: http://www.postcrescent.com/story/money/2017/02/24/jc-penney-store-closures/98344540/

[sinkingfeeling]

1. I hate seeing all these closings.

[shenmue]

4. Me too

[riversedge]

16. agree

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Who can say but 140 stores is excessive

Just as the public are getting paychecks back

CEO made some comments a month ago about maintaining a wide store base
for customer pickup of online merchandise and cheaper shipping costs

Guess that went out the window

[yeoman6987]

3. The repugs on twitter are saying victory!

Disgusting. They say the boycott worked. I didn't even know repugs were boycotting. Alt news again. Such liars!

[CurtEastPoint]

5. Probably boycotting Ellen from what....? 15 years ago? Idiots.

[yeoman6987]

6. Oh brother. You are right. Celebrate 15 years later. Idiots is right!

[CurtEastPoint]

9. My bad. 2012. Same diff. Still idiots.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/ellen-degeneres-one-million-moms-jc-penney_n_1262623.html

[yeoman6987]

12. Oh yeah. They will probably take credit for a Starbucks if one cafe closes in 5 years.

They are just weird. I've said a lot about them but weird is a first. They just are.

[Maggiemayhem]

14. Weird and Unpopular

Never had ANY fun and wonder why they don't get invites to parties.

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. They are still trying to recover from hiring Ron Johnson from Apple in 2011

That was one of the most boneheaded decisions on the planet.

[Kingofalldems]

8. With your exclamation points, yeoman6987, it looks like you are screaming victory.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Like

[dalton99a]

7. This after they turned a net profit

[dembotoz]

11. funny thing is my 24 year old just went to one for the first time and loved it

had a gift certificate...starting a new job and had to upgrade his work attire

beside the certificate i know he spent big bucks there....he said that it was the most he spent on clothing in his life...

and he really liked the store....

[melm00se]

13. JCP seems to be bouncing back

but their asset:liability ratio has crept up over the last couple of quarters. Additionally, with Sears and Macys (who, like JCP, are mall anchors) closing stores, the decreased mall traffic will undoubtedly impact JCP.