By LUKA KRNETA
News editor
JC Penney at the Clarion Mall, which avoided closure earlier this year as the company maneuvered its way through Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, will close its doors in the spring.
Corporate spokesperson Kristen Bennett on Saturday confirmed to the newspaper via email that the store will close in March. However, she could not provide a specific date for the closure.
There was no immediate information available on the number of employees affected by the decision along with specifics on the effect to the local economy.
There also was no information available as to when a liquidation sale might begin, but the company’s website says items purchased before the start of such a sale could be returned or exchanged throughout the liquidation process.
JC Penney is the mall’s last major store.
The announcement of the planned closure in Clarion comes more than four and a half years after JC Penney closed its location in the Cranberry Mall in April 2016.
The company’s website notes several phases of JC Penney’s store closures in 2020 as part of a “store optimization strategy.” That plan included the closure of up to 200 stores nationwide during the course of financial restructuring.
In June, the Clarion store survived when JC Penney announced the closure of 13 of its locations around the country, including the store in the Clearview Mall in Butler.
On Dec. 7, the company announced the completion of its previously announced sale, under which a pair of companies have acquired substantially all of JC Penney’s retail and operating assets, allowing JC Penney to emerge from Chapter 11.
The company’s asset purchase agreement had been approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Nov. 9.
“Today is an exciting day for our company, as we have accomplished our goal of putting JC Penney on a secure path for the future as a private company so that we can continue to serve our loyal customers,” JC Penney Chief Executive Officer Jill Soltau said in a news release on the company’s website.
“With this closing, our operating company has exited Chapter 11 and is continuing under new ownership and the JC Penney banner. This milestone would not be possible without the commitment and hard work of our associates and the support of our vendor partners.”
With the completion of the sale, JC Penney has access to approximately $1.5 billion of new financing, according to the release.
Nearly four years ago, in March 2017, the Clarion store dodged a bullet when the chain announced its plans to close 138 stores nationwide and a supply chain facility in Lakeland, Florida, as part of a continuing effort to advance sustainable growth and long-term profitability, according to a news release at the time.
Pennsylvania locations that were included in that list of closures included stores in Clearfield, Bloomsburg, Towanda, Pennsdale, King of Prussia and Philadelphia.
A supply chain facility in Buena Park, California, was also scheduled for relocation at the time to align with the company’s physical store footprint and omnichannel network, the release said.