Following Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penney Co, Inc founded in 1913 with 850 stores and 85,000 employees filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Friday as it struggled with mounting debt and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The retailer plans to restructure in an effort to reduce debt by several billion dollars as well as attracting Amazon’s interest.
Store closures will follow in phases, with details and timing to be disclosed in the coming weeks, the company said in a news release announcing its restructuring.
The retailer may close up to 200 stores as part of its restructuring, CNBC reported.
“Until this pandemic struck, we had made significant progress rebuilding our company under our Plan for Renewal strategy—and our efforts had already begun to pay off,” said CEO Jill Soltau in a statement announcing the restructuring.
The company said it will continue to work toward the goals set out in its turnaround plan, which include driving traffic and upgrading the shopping experience, but noted “challenging” market conditions have hampered its efforts to meet its current operational and financial objectives.
