JCPenney announced 154 stores would close in summer 2020 tonight.
Among them included the Bourbonnais store located at 1600 N State Rt 50 in Northfield Square Mall. JCPenney was among the original anchor stores to open at Northfield Square when the mall opened on August 1st 1990. Other anchor stores included Sears, Carson Pirie Scott, and Venture
Closing sales will begin June 12th. JC Penney originally filed for Chapter 11 on May 15th.
“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 Chief Executive Jill Soltau said in a statement.
The store plans to emerge from the pandemic as a smaller department store chain.
JCPenney says it expects closings to take anywhere from two to four months at max, meaning the Bourbonnais Store will be closed by or before October 12th.
