Another Major Department Store Closing Locations In N.J., Elsewhere

Add JCPenney to the list of department stores shuttering locations in New Jersey.

A JCPenney store at the Rio Grande Plaza Shopping Center on Route 47 in New Jersey will soon close. The Texas-based company has announced it's closing brick-and-mortar stores and several distribution centers across the country.

A full timetable for closings has not been released, but JCPenney has said liquidation will begin in April and most stores will shut their doors in June, according to the Boston Globe. The closings will affect a reported 5,000 jobs nationwide.

The retailer is not the first to announce closures of large department stores this year. Kmart and Macy's this year announced they were closing multiple stores in New Jersey.

Kmart will close four New Jersey stores, including one in Rio Grande, and Macy's is shuttering three. All told, eight major department stores in New Jersey will be closed by year's end.

Disappointing holiday sales were reported at all department stores nationwide, as well as declines in stock prices, just before the closures were announced.

JCPenney said it is closing stores to better compete in a changing marketplace where online shopping has become common.

"We are pleased with the double digit growth of jcpenney.com and how leveraging our brick and mortar locations is enabling us to offset the last-mile delivery cost," the company said in a statement in February. “We believe closing stores will also allow us to adjust our business to effectively compete against the growing threat of online retailers,” CEO Marvin R. Ellison said.

Here are the additional department stores that are closing in New Jersey and their locations:

Kmart:

• Clemonton
• East Brunswick
• Pleasantville
• Rio Grande

Macy’s:

• Moorestown
• Voorhees
• Wayne

Photo: JCPenny in Rio Grande, Google Earth