JCPenney has closed its Ross Park Mall store in Pittsburgh after about 40 years, saying it could not continue the lease on current terms or find another suitable site in the market. The retailer said it hopes to keep serving customers through nearly 650 stores nationwide and its.
Other JCPenney stores closed earlier this year in Pleasanton, California; Sanford, Florida; Chicago; Goodlettsville, Tennessee; and Springfield, Virginia. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2020 and later announced plans to close more than 242 locations; it had about 2,000 stores at its peak in the 1970s.
Retail Dive reported that net sales fell 6.5% in the first half of the year and gave an 8% year-over-year decline. Store foot traffic and online sales improved toward the end of Q2 and into Q3, while credit-card and loyalty-program enrollments grew by double digits. GlobalData Managing Director Neal Sanders told Retail Dive that the sales dip represented a serious loss of market share as the department-store market grew. Further closures have not been confirmed.
