Casper JC Penney Not Included in First Round of Store Closures
Casper's J.C. Penney store isn't out of the woods yet, but also is not one of the first 154 locations the company plans to close amid Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
However, the department store chain plans to close another 88 stores, for a total of 242 permanent closures. The company has not announced which stores are next on the chopping block.
The bankruptcy judge handling the case is set to consider the proposed list of closures next Thursday. Should the moves be approved, closing sales at the identified locations will begin.
Additional phases of closures will begin in the coming weeks, the company announced Thursday. J.C. Penney intends to reduce its brick-and-mortar operations so it can focus resources on its stores with the best revenue and online sales.
“While closing stores is always an extremely difficult decision, our store optimization strategy is vital to ensuring we emerge from both Chapter 11 and the COVID-19 pandemic as a stronger retailer with greater financial flexibility to allow us to continue serving our loyal customers for decades to come,” Jill Soltau, chief executive officer of JCPenney, said in Thursday's statement.
Also Thursday, the company received court approval to access debtor-in-possession financing, including $450 million in new money from existing lenders.