J.C. Penney Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
It seemed like a matter of time before the next older retail chain took a fall. After closing from the coronavirus pandemic, the retailer has decided to not open all of its 840 stores back up. According to Business Insider, the store is carrying a $4 billion debt and has also skipped payments.
When CEO Jill Soltau took over, her first big move was to get rid of the appliances the retailer sold, something they had been doing for over 30 years. This took a bit of the burden off of the retailer, mixed with more modern branding and advertising. All of that work was starting to pay off, but not enough as it entered into 2020 faced with the pandemic, and not turning a reported profit since 2011.
Now, the store will be closing over 200 stores while it files for bankruptcy. The remaining 640 stores staying open will decrease their sales down to $7.5 billion. How will they decide what stores to close down? The statement made after filing was that they planed on closing their stores in weaker performing malls. Guess we will see if the Prien Lake Mall is a strong or weak mall in the coming months.