JC Penney customers in Central New York are waiting to hear if their local store will shut down, as the chain announces the closure of up to 140 stores.
It’s similar to what Macy’s and Sears did recently, with online shopping hurting their profits.
Black Friday lines are exciting to managers, but the profits after typically are not.
“The stores don’t decide in a punitive sort of way, we’re going to close that store, and just tick off all the people in that neighborhood. They’re like this store cannot make any money for us,” said Amanda Nicholson, a professor of retailer at Syracuse University.
Those stores that can’t make money have lead to a streak of shut-downs. In the last year, Macy’s left Great Northern Mall and Shoppingtown Mall. Destiny USA lost its Sears outlet, and Shoppingtown facing another hit when JC Penney called it quits.
Nicholson says by today’s demand, Macy’s and JC Penney may have built too many locations in Central New York.
“But they didn’t know it when they did it. When they did it, it was fine. You can’t say anyone did something wrong. You could perhaps criticize them for not forecasting that this was going to happen,” she said.
Although online shopping can be to blame, Nicholson says that the typical department store is an 80-year-old format.
JC Penney has not said which stores will close. There are six around Central New York— Destiny USA, Finger Lakes Mall in Auburn, Oswego Plaza, Freedom Mall in Rome, Cortlandville Crossing and Sangertown Square Mall outside of Utica.
NewsChannel 9 and LocalSYR.com will provide updates if local stores will be closing down.
