JCPenney is closing 154 of its stores worldwide, including two in Vermont.
The store’s locations at the Berlin Mall and Bennington Square are set to close in coming months, though exact dates for the closures have yet to be released. Two nearby locations, in Keane and West Lebanon, New Hampshire, will also close.
The giant retail chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid the financial fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. In doing so, it plans to close about 30% of its retail stores.
“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,” CEO Jill Soltau said in a statement.
JCPenney is one of several large retailers at the Berlin Mall, along with Kohl’s and Walmart. Ken Simon, vice president of Heidenberg Properties Group, which owns the mall, said he expects that once the store closes, most of its customers will shift to the other department stores until a new retailer moves in.
“I think that the merchandise JCPenney carries is similar in quality and price point to what Kohl’s carries, and of course Walmart,” he said. “I don’t think there will be a perceived loss to the residents of Central Vermont. And hopefully the replacement will offer new types of merchandise that will enhance their shopping experience.”
Simon said the mall already has “a number of potential replacements” to fill the JCPenney space, but that he didn’t want to name them until a deal was finalized.
He said JCPenney was set to begin its liquidation sale this weekend, which will last around 10 weeks, after which the store will close for good. He said he hopes a new retailer can move in shortly after that happens.
“From our point of view, change is good,” Simon said, noting all of the changes in retailers the mall has undergone in recent years. “This is one point in a long continuum of what I think will ultimately be a positive change for the mall.”
He said the mall has recently reopened, as per the governor’s orders, and urged Vermonters to continue supporting businesses during the pandemic.
In Bennington, the future of the soon-to-be-empty JCPenney space is less clear. JCPenney is currently one of seven stores in the Bennington Square mall, which was reportedly at about 55% capacity in February, when the mall sold to two bidders, Mark O’Connor and Evan Portno, for $750,000 at a foreclosure auction.
The auction coordinator told the Bennington Banner at the time that he guessed the space would continue to operate in a “very similar capacity” after the sale, though it is unclear what the bidders’ specific intentions are.
The new owners did not respond to a request for comment about how the JCPenney closure would impact plans for the property.
