J. C. PENNEY IS LEAVING MANHATTAN
The JC Penney located in the Manhattan Mall near Herald Square has closed for good, the company said on Tuesday. The store was located on Sixth Avenue and 31st Street, just a few blocks from the Macy’s flagship on West 34th Street.
The retailer moved into the mall, formerly used as the Gimbels flagship, just over a decade ago in 2009. Its departure leaves the mall with no large department store retailer.
Along with the Manhattan store, the JC Penney location at Kings Plaza in Brooklyn will also be closing down for good.
The retail chain announced it would be closing 154 stores this summer as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in May.
“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,” chief executive officer Jill Soltau said in a statement in June.
There are still three other JC Penney locations throughout the five boroughs, in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, that will remain open, and most locations have reopened after being forced to temporarily close due to COVID-19.
IIt really breaks my heart to see abandoned retail space that used to be a vibrant and important part of the community. I live near a small town that had a small JCP store that closed about 8-months ago. It is located in a typical small town outdoor strip mall — now there is this boarded up store front — a store that used to be so active. As times change — there seem to be few or no retailers to take over the abandoned retail spaces — spaces that still have great locations. Times often change for the worse — this is but one example.