J.C. Penney Co. will close three metro Atlanta locations as it works to increase profits.
The company is closing two under-performing stores: one at Southlake Mall and a J.C. Penney Home Store in Duluth. It is also closing a catalog outlet store in Forest Park as it exits the catalog business.
A spokesman for J.C. Penney, Joey Thomas, said the Southlake and Duluth stores no longer meet the company's "profitability threshold" and will close June 1.
The Southlake store has 147 employees, and Duluth has 38. Thomas said he did not know how many employees work at the Forest Park location. Employees will receive separation benefits, he said.
The catalog store may close, be sold as an outlet to another company or be converted into a traditional J.C. Penney store sometime in 2011 or 2012, he said. J.C. Penney uses the store to liquidate excess catalog inventory and is discontinuing its catalog.
Other J.C. Penney stores in the region, including J.C. Penney service centers where customers can pick up online orders, will remain open.
The news comes as a hit to residents of Forest Park, city manager John Parker said. The availability of reduced-cost apparel was beneficial to low- and medium-income residents.
"When a place of this magnitude closes, it limits the options people have," he said. "We always hate to see those kind of things."
J.C. Penney has been an anchor tenant at Southlake Mall since it opened in 1976, general manager Judy Pritchett said. She said the mall is doing well, and the closing is not a reflection of Southlake's performance as a whole. Pritchett said she could not speculate about how the closure would affect mall traffic, but she said Southlake's priority is to replace the anchor.
In Duluth, the Home Store is part of a shopping center that also houses Barnes & Noble, Rooms to Go and Toys R Us, said Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District executive director Joe Allen.
He said the closure will likely lead people who do not frequent the area to assume that Gwinnett Place is an area "in complete decline." But, Allen said, the CID has seen a number of new openings in formerly empty retail spaces, including Assi Plaza in a former Walmart and GreatWall Supermarket in an old Target.
"A lot of new businesses have come back to this area," he said.
Changes at J.C. Penney
SLIMMING DOWN: J.C. Penney Co. will close six underperforming stores, two call centers, 19 outlet stores and one furniture outlet. It also is working to finish closing its catalog business. The chain did not disclose how many jobs would be lost.
BOARD ADDITIONS: Activist investor William Ackman and Vornado Realty Trust Chairman Steven Roth are joining the retailer's board, boosting it to 13 members. Another director is expected to join soon.
THE BIG PICTURE: The department store chain said the moves are intended to boost profits and reflect the shift to online purchases.
Source: The Associated Press
