Fayetteville JC Penney Store Spared, Lumberton Store Closing
Despite lots of rumors lately, the Fayetteville JC Penney store at Cross Creek Mall is NOT on the list of stores closing this summer. At least not yet anyway.
The store at Biggs Park Mall in Lumberton, however, is set to close, as the department store chain announced the first 154 stores it will be liquidating as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. (See the full closure list here.)
“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,” said Jill Soltau, chief executive officer of JCPenney in a news release. “I am incredibly grateful to our talented associates for their ongoing dedication and their passion for meeting and exceeding our customers’ expectations during this difficult and uncertain time. All impacted associates will be treated with the utmost consideration and respect.”
Store closing sales are expected to begin soon, and last 10-16 weeks to complete, the company said. They also said additional closures will be announced “in the coming weeks,” but did not say if the Fayetteville JC Penney would be closing as part of the next round.
It’s unclear at this time how many more stores will be slated to close, but the company said it wants to focus on only its strongest stores, as well as its flagship eCommerce store, jcp.com.
The Fayetteville store was notably hit during looting last Saturday night, after protests throughout town in response to the death of George Floyd.
