J.C. Penney Closing 24 Stores

J.C. Penney announced Thursday it will close 15 department stores and nine home and furniture stores this year in addition to three store closures announced last month.

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

J.C. Penney said it needs to reallocate capital resources to “locations and initiatives that offer the greatest long-term value potential.”

The company did not immediately identify which stores will close. But among its southwestern Pennsylvania stores, the one that seemingly would be likeliest to shutter would be in Century III Mall in West Mifflin.

J.C. Penney and Dick’s Sporting Goods currently are the only stores open in the near-dead mall. The interior of the mall was closed earlier this month by West Mifflin officials who deemed it unsafe and uninhabitable after the sprinkler system was damaged in a cold snap.

The mall’s owners, Moonbeam Capital Investments of Las Vegas, owe more than $400,000 in back taxes to West Mifflin Borough, the West Mifflin School District and Allegheny County. Moonbeam also has given the few remaining tenants that were operating inside the mall an order to vacate.

J.C. Penney’s other locations around the region:

• Ross Park Mall.

• The Mall at Robinson.

• Monroeville Mall.

• Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills.

• Westmoreland Mall.

• Beaver Valley Mal.l

• Clearview Mall.

• Uniontown Mall.

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