The Auburn-area JCPenney at Fingerlakes Mall will be closing, one of 154 store closures announced Thursday as part of the company's bankruptcy plans.
JCPenney聽was one of the Aurelius mall's original tenants when it opened in 1980. The company also announced it is closing six other upstate New York locations, including in DestinyUSA in Syracuse. The other locations closing in New York include Batavia, Canandaigua, New Hartford, Oswego and Rome.
Parent company J.C. Penney Co. announced in a press release Thursday that it had "taken the first step in implementing its store optimization strategy. Following a comprehensive evaluation of its retail footprint and a careful analysis of store performance and future strategic, JCPenney identified the first phase of 154 store closures."
The company said store closing sales will begin at the 154 locations.聽Closing sales for the first round of closures are expected to take 10 to 16 weeks to complete. Retail stories in central New York only recently were allowed to be open for in-store shopping, a measure that was allowed when the region entered the second phase of the state coronavirus economic reopening plan.
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The Fingerlakes Mall store had weathered multiple rounds of JCPenney nationwide closures through the years. In 2016, it was honored for being among the corporation's top performing locations.
Mall officials were not immediately available for comment.
鈥淲hile 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,鈥 said Jill Soltau, JCPenney CEO, in the release. 鈥淚 am incredibly grateful to our talented associates for their ongoing dedication and their passion for meeting and exceeding our customers鈥 expectations during this difficult and uncertain time. All impacted associates will be treated with the utmost consideration and respect.鈥
JCPenney said it remains focused on its renewal plan and driving sustainable, profitable growth; it intends to reduce its store footprint and focus resources on its strongest stores and its website, .
On May 15, JCPenney entered into a restructuring support agreement with its lenders to reduce its debt and strengthen its financial position and filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
