As we are slowly but surely emerging out of a year of uncertainty due to the worldwide pandemic, it's a lot like standing up, dusting ourselves off, and looking around to see what has changed, and what has remained the same. Unfortunately, the retail apocalypse is continuing into 2021, and some of it has nothing to do with the pandemic.

J.C. Penney is one of the nation's oldest retail establishments and a much-loved destination for generations of Americans. They have encountered hard times before and managed to emerge unscathed. But things have not been looking up for the historic department store chain. Earlier this week officials with Penney's announced that they will be delaying the shuttering of 15 stores from March to May, and adding 3 more stores to the list of closures.

In May of last year, the company announced that they were filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At the time they were the largest retailer to do so because of the pandemic, and the plans were to shutter 29% of their 846 locations, which was 242. Since then 156 stores have closed, but the company was acquired by Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management Inc in December, and have emerged out of bankruptcy.

With the 18 stores that are set to close in May, the total has risen to 174. Thankfully no stores in Louisiana are facing closure, but you can check the updated list of those facing a shutdown from USA Today. We hate to see anyone lose their job, especially those with such a historic brand.

 

 

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