Retailer to close 45 stores, restructure

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2000 | 11:10 a.m.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. of Plano, Texas, one of America's largest department store chains, plans to close up to 45 of its 1,150 department stores nationwide by July 1 as part of a $530 million restructuring program.

But the company hasn't decided whether any of its three Las Vegas stores, which employ a total of 750 people, will be closed.

The company is making asset writedowns and closing underperforming stores to reduce operating costs and overhead and to consolidate company functions.

"Forty to 45 stores will be closed nationwide because they didn't meet our criteria on financial and strategic matters. However, the process of identifying the specific stores is not yet finalized, and we expect to make a final announcement identifying the stores in the next two to three weeks," said Stephanie Brown, a J.C. Penney spokeswoman.

"Generally, we open and close stores every year as a normal course of business. If there are layoffs, we will work with those associates to place them in either other J.C. Penney facilities, units or operations in that community," Brown said.