10 January 2013, in all the reports about Sears and Kmart closing down, we forgot the other one; JC Penney.

It all started in 2011, when JC Penney closed down all catalog stores.  They also closed down five department stores in Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, North Carolina and Virginia.  A ‘Home Store’ was closed in Georgia.

April 2011, a JC Penney call center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was closed.  370 jobs lost!

At the end of January 2012 the Ashland, Wisconsin, JC Penney was closed.  Also, a JC Penney in Nogalas, Arizona, was closed.

03 March 2012, a West Baraboo, Wisconsin, JC Penney was closed.

In April 2012, a call center was closed in Pennsylvania. 321 jobs lost!

Also in April 2012, JC Penney laid off 13% (600 people laid off!) of its headquarters staff in Plano, Texas.  Then in July 2012, another 350 people lost their jobs in Plano, Texas!

28 July 2012, San Fernando, California, store closed.  50 jobs lost. This despite 1,500 people who signed petitions to keep the store open, obviously there were some dedicated JC Penney shoppers in that city.  Company officials said it was all about “growth”, apparently the 59 year old store wasn’t growing anymore.

28 July 2012, Scottsbluff, Nebraska, store closed.  15 jobs lost.

01 August 2012, an analyst writing for Forbes predicted 250 JC Penney stores “…will be classified as impaired by management by the end of the year…”.

September 2012, closes Plainfield distribution and support center in Indiana.  230 jobs lost (some confusion as the official state government report says 176, but local media says JC Penney told them 230).

January 2013, the Wilson Mall in North Carolina is about to close for good, so no more JC Penney.

08 January 2013, New York Post interviewed Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter.  The interview was about Sears Holdings, but Balter might have given something away; JC Penney about to start liquidating stores.  The hint came when he was trying to explain that if that happened it would ruin Sears Holdings’ plan to do the same: “If [Penney] starts liquidating locations, that could seriously undermine the real estate asset support argument for Sears.”