JC Penney To Close Four Stores in Minnesota

The retailer JC Penney has been a staple at malls and shopping centers in Minnesota and across the country for YEARS. (The JC Penney website says it was founded by James Cash Penney WAAAY back in 1902 in Kemmerer, Wyoming.)

But the iconic department store chain has been struggling as of late, as have many old-school brick-and-mortar retailers, and filed bankruptcy plans back in May. We're now finding out the details of those plans, which, according to this post on the JC Penney website, involve shuttering 154 stores across the country-- including four here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

The Minnesota locations set to close initially include Maple Grove, Eden Prairie, Coon Rapids and Willmar. Note that our JC Penney here in Rochester at Apache Mall is NOT included in that closing list-- at least, not yet. This MPR story says this round of closings are part of its first phase and that "it expects additional store closings to be announced in the coming weeks."

And, as we've seen in the past with other stores that have gone bankrupt (Shopko, I'm talking to you) locations that are spared initially often times end up closing down the road too. I'm hoping that's not the case with Rochester's JC Penney, but I'm not holding my breath. You can read more about their specific plans HERE.

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