JC Penney Closing Maryland Store, 29 Other Locations

GAITHERSBURG, MD — JC Penney officials said Thursday that the iconic retailer with 860 stores nationwide will close 18 stores this year — plus nine home and furniture stores this fall — in addition to three store closures announced last month. One of the 30 stores on the chopping block is in Maryland.

The reason? The stores that will be suttered "either requires significant capital, are minimally cash-flow positive...or represent a real estate monetization opportunity," the retailer said in a statement.

JC Penney said it needs to reallocate capital resources to "locations and initiatives that offer the greatest long-term value potential."

The JCPenney location at Lake Forest Mall in Gaithersburg is one of the stores targeted for closure. Remaining inventory will be sold over the next several months, with the final closing date expected to take place on July 5, Carter English, corporate communications and public relations spokesman for the retailer, told Patch.

For the home and furniture stores to shut down, remaining inventory will be sold through the summer, with a final closing date expected this fall.

Brick-and-mortar stores continue to struggle to increase online sales in what analysts have dubbed the retail apocalypse. The beloved chain Toys R Us was likely the most high-profile retail closure in 2018, but it's just one of many stores that you won't be seeing in 2019.

Toys R Us shut down its operations in the U.S., closing 735 stores. The iconic toy store closed all of its locations in the U.S. by late June, including 17 Toys R Us stores in Maryland: Annapolis, Baltimore, Bel Air, Clarksburg, Clinton, Columbia, Frederick, Gaithersburg, Glen Burnie, Hagerstown, Owings Mills, Oxon Hill, Pasadena, Salisbury, Silver Spring, Towson and Waldorf.

Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, announcing it would close 142 unprofitable locations, including five stores in Maryland: Bowie, Columbia and Westminster Sears as well as the Oxon Hill and Prince Frederick Kmart shops. Those stores closed by the end of 2018, while the Bethesda Sears closed in February 2019; the latter was announced in November as part of a set of 40 store closings nationwide.

That means 11 Sears stores will remain in the state of Maryland by March 2019: Annapolis, Bel Air, Cumberland, Frederick, Gaithersburg, Glen Burnie, Salisbury, Security Square, Silver Spring, Waldorf and White Marsh.

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