J.C. Penny is probably gone...

[MrCleveland]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/15/busin...eb0NYp2GzsIpJ8

J.C. Penny will probably be gone like Sears, K Mart, and Montgomery Ward....

[IllinoisTVFan]

I'm surprised they are even still around, I haven't gone there is years (almost 20 years). Very sad actually because our choices are getting limited.

[opus]

Originally Posted by MrCleveland

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/15/busin...eb0NYp2GzsIpJ8

J.C. Penny will probably be gone like Sears, K Mart, and Montgomery Ward....

Sears and K Mart still have stores. Montgomery Ward still exists online.

[treky]

Originally Posted by MrCleveland

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/15/busin...eb0NYp2GzsIpJ8

J.C. Penny will probably be gone like Sears, K Mart, and Montgomery Ward....

I didn't know they were still around.

[AMackII]

Unless If they are brought by Amazon.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by opus

Sears and K Mart still have stores. Montgomery Ward still exists online.

True, but according to Wikipedia's Kmart article, there were once 2,486 Kmarts, and there are now only 43 left. Most states have no Kmart. We lost ours a few years ago, along with the local Sears. Neither one is even in this state anymore. That company became so mismanaged.

I hate to see J.C. Penney go under. They were a good brand.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by MrCleveland

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/15/busin...eb0NYp2GzsIpJ8

J.C. Penny will probably be gone like Sears, K Mart, and Montgomery Ward....

What are you talking about??

JC Penny isn't gone. Plenty of companies file for bankruptcy. It's just a restructuring and/or elimination of debt.

Of course it's not a good thing but most companies return after bankruptcy just like Neiman Marcus is.

Plus JC Penny still has 846 stores so it's not going anywhere soon.

[80sTrivia]

From what I understand, the company will have to close a number of stores in accordance with their debt consolidation agreement with their creditors, but not all of the stores are closing. The number of stores to close will depend on when the majority can re-open and get back into business from this pandemic nightmare...

[MA]

I won’t be surprised if the store in my local mall ends up closing.

[opus]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

True, but according to Wikipedia's Kmart article, there were once 2,486 Kmarts, and there are now only 43 left. Most states have no Kmart. We lost ours a few years ago, along with the local Sears. Neither one is even in this state anymore. That company became so mismanaged.

I hate to see J.C. Penney go under. They were a good brand.

One day, if we live long enough (we won’t), we’ll see stories about the death of Wal Mart, Target, etc. Every business has a finite timeline, be it a month or a hundred years.

[A_Ghost_named_Samuel]

Originally Posted by opus

One day, if we live long enough (we won’t), we’ll see stories about the death of Wal Mart, Target, etc. Every business has a finite timeline, be it a month or a hundred years.

I think that'll come sooner than later.

The revenge of Mom and Pop.

[Bonniegirl]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

True, but according to Wikipedia's Kmart article, there were once 2,486 Kmarts, and there are now only 43 left. Most states have no Kmart. We lost ours a few years ago, along with the local Sears. Neither one is even in this state anymore. That company became so mismanaged.

I hate to see J.C. Penney go under. They were a good brand.

I know ! I will be so sad to see JC Penney gone! I love that store ! The one closest to me always seemed to be doing a pretty good business !! I still miss Sears and Kmart ! I will be really depressed if JC Penny is no longer around !!

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by Bonniegirl

I know ! I will be so sad to see JC Penney gone! I love that store ! The one closest to me always seemed to be doing a pretty good business !! I still miss Sears and Kmart ! I will be really depressed if JC Penny is no longer around !!

You can relax for the next few years. JCPenny has a major balloon payment due in 2023. They'll likely be OK till then. And maybe even after if they can get that worked out!

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by MA

I won’t be surprised if the store in my local mall ends up closing.

How was the foot traffic there before this stupid Coronavirus?

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Bonniegirl

I know ! I will be so sad to see JC Penney gone! I love that store ! The one closest to me always seemed to be doing a pretty good business !! I still miss Sears and Kmart ! I will be really depressed if JC Penny is no longer around !!

Our city once had seven department stores.

The JC Penney store here closed about five years ago. It couldn't compete against Marshall's, Kmart, Target, Walmart, Dillard's, and Sears. Mostly Walmart, of course. Ross moved into its space, and because they are next to Marshall's, I think they do a decent discount business. Bargain-hunters shop in the one store, then go into the other one.

The Kmart store here was always empty and hadn't been updated since the 1980s. Going in was like walking into 1985: fun for the retro feel (I'm a retro kind of guy, as you know), but not somewhere people would normally shop. When they announced it was closing, no-one was surprised. At the very end, they had tried to sell groceries, following Walmart, but that effort was far, far too late. They couldn't break into a market they should have entered a decade earlier. Shopping patterns had already been established years earlier. It was so mismanaged. You could feel them circling the drain for over a decade, maybe more.

When our local Sears closed, I think everyone was devastated. It had been a major mall anchor, it had the Craftsman tools and all the lawn accessories. Many people still shopped there, so the store closing was a very big community event. Our mall, already failing, became a mostly empty shell.

Dillard's, now the only other mall anchor, does more business on its January 1st sales day than all the rest of the year combined. That New Year's Day event is crazy! I guess that's how they stay in business? That and the costly merch. I only buy stuff when it's on sale. I imagine Coronavirus may have killed the store. They couldn't be open during the greater part of the crisis.

Target here does fairly strong business -- I know it benefited from Penny's, Sears, and Kmart closing -- but I estimate it doesn't even do 10% of the sales of the Walmart.

We have no other department stores, so now we are down to five, and I'm sure we will soon lose more.

When I visited Sears in the Big City 75 miles from here, back in January, you could tell they were on their last legs. The lower level had some good deals, everything at Ross prices, but the upper level was incredibly empty. The whole upper level was about 1/3rd filled, with vast areas of the store completely empty. I was not at all surprised when they announced closure later that month. That was the last Sears in the state.

People keep shopping online, which is understandable, but then they don't understand why everything closes locally. It doesn't help when these troubled brands are bought by these liquidation holding companies who have no idea how to run a retail business.

How has it been in your area, Bonniegirl?