Starkville’s JCPenney department store on Highway 12 is one of 154 locations in 38 states that will close this summer as part of the Plano, Texas-based company’s “store optimization strategy,” according to a Thursday press release.
The closures will start June 11 after an order from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, and the company expects additional phases to begin “in the coming weeks,” the release states. The company will focus its resources on “its strongest stores” and its online store, jcp.com.
JCPenney filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 15 after losing sales due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Chapter 11 involves reorganizing business affairs, debts and assets.
“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,” JCPenney CEO Jill Soltau said in the press release.
The company had reopened nearly 500 stores by Thursday and plans to reopen more as government restrictions on business activity during the pandemic have loosened, Soltau said.
JCPenney originally opened a Starkville store downtown and moved to its current location at Starkville Crossing in 1993, according to Oktibbeha County tax assessor records.
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