JCPenney to close 140 stores - impact on Phoenix area locations (Bullhead City: employment, buying)

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by TempeAZnative

Chris have to started your writing campaign telling them they can't close those stores because you need to buy your pink izods?

I don't think both of them will close since both serve the far East Valley. Closing both would leave a huge void for the region, requiring residents to go to Tempe Marketplace or Ahwatukee Foothills to shop to their nearest location.

So far Macy's has kept both Superstition Springs and SanTan Village, so that could be a sign of hope.

Note that my most recent Fairy Tale pink IZOD shirt I did a ship to store order to Mill Crossing (JCPenney offers free ship to store over $25). Those savings would be lost on gas if we would have to drive to Tempe Marketplace or Ahwatukee Foothills.

[Ztonyg]

Other than Arrowhead Towne Center, Paradise Valley Mall, and Superstition Springs the JCPenney stores in the Phoenix area are all newer smaller footprint stores in strip shopping centers built in the mid - late 2000s.

The stores that JCPenney will be closing are the 150,000 - 200,000 square foot stores in dying enclosed malls that were built in large quantities nationwide in the 1970s and 1980s.

Phoenix's dying enclosed malls are Desert Sky Mall, Fiesta Mall, and Metrocenter.

JCPenney has already long closed is Desert Sky and Metrocenter stores and never had a store at Fiesta Mall.

Paradise Valley Mall is probably the least healthy remaining mall but they won't close the store there at the present time for the same reason Macy's won't (and that's because it's by far the closest store to Desert Ridge, Paradise Valley, North Scottsdale, Carefree, and Cave Creek). The anchors at PV Mall tend to still do decent business (and the Costco there is a very high traffic store).

[ScottsdaleMark]

Originally Posted by Ztonyg

Other than Arrowhead Towne Center, Paradise Valley Mall, and Superstition Springs the JCPenney stores in the Phoenix area are all newer smaller footprint stores in strip shopping centers built in the mid - late 2000s.

The stores that JCPenney will be closing are the 150,000 - 200,000 square foot stores in dying enclosed malls that were built in large quantities nationwide in the 1970s and 1980s.

Phoenix's dying enclosed malls are Desert Sky Mall, Fiesta Mall, and Metrocenter.

JCPenney has already long closed is Desert Sky and Metrocenter stores and never had a store at Fiesta Mall.

Paradise Valley Mall is probably the least healthy remaining mall but they won't close the store there at the present time for the same reason Macy's won't (and that's because it's by far the closest store to Desert Ridge, Paradise Valley, North Scottsdale, Carefree, and Cave Creek). The anchors at PV Mall tend to still do decent business (and the Costco there is a very high traffic store).

Good points.

I like PV Mall but that's almost more as a place to walk around and get something to eat or a coffee and use their nice kids' play area and so forth. The quality of non-anchor stores has been in decline -- it's not terrible but it's not great -- so if they start losing anchors then the mall would really be in trouble. It has a nice not-deserted but not-too-busy feel that seems to make it popular with the moms-with-strollers and seniors-walking-for-exercise-indoors crowds.

I am hopeful that the booming restaurant and strip-mall business directly surrounding the PV Mall will help keep the actual mall itself afloat, but on the other hand maybe that's what's siphoning off all the business from the mall itself and making it hard to get quality tenants who would rather pay to build / refurbish standalone spaces on the Cactus or Tatum frontages.

Everyone hates strip malls, but there's a reason that's all they ever build anymore, I guess. People just seem more comfortable going to one store or restaurant at a time versus going to a big mall anymore.

[Pink Jazz]

The PV Mall store isn't too far from the Christown store, however, Christown is a smaller footprint store that probably doesn't have as much selection as the PV Mall store. This is the same reason why Mill Crossing does not replicate the Superstition Springs store.

[Pink Jazz]

Also, as a side note, so far none of the Phoenix area Sears stores have closed; all of their closures have been Kmart stores. It's interesting that Sears has been able to keep all of its Phoenix area stores open, even those at Fiesta, Metrocenter, and Desert Sky.

[Ztonyg]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

Also, as a side note, so far none of the Phoenix area Sears stores have closed; all of their closures have been Kmart stores. It's interesting that Sears has been able to keep all of its Phoenix area stores open, even those at Fiesta, Metrocenter, and Desert Sky.

Not quite true.

The Sears store at the former Thomas Mall (Thomas and 44th St.) closed within the last couple of years.

[Bird Street]

Sears Colonnade at 20th. St. and Camelback closed years ago. I always thought that was the beginning of the end for Sears. It was also called the Sears-Rhodes mall. I only have a very vague memory of the downtown Phoenix store.

[Pink Jazz]

Also, MarketWatch says that many of the store closures will be smaller stores in rural areas according to JCPenney executives:
J.C. Penney to close 130 to 140 stores, sales dip - MarketWatch

I wonder if the stores outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas could be vulnerable?

[Ztonyg]

Sears also very briefly operated a store at Scottsdale Fashion Square for a little more than a year in the 1999-2001 timeframe. That store became Macy's.

The move to Fashion Square was due to the closure of the Los Arcos Mall.

[Pink Jazz]

Morningstar Credit Ratings just released their list of the 39 most vulnerable stores:
JCPenney list of stores most at risk of closing - Business Insider

None of the Phoenix area stores made the list, however, there will be 130 to 140 locations closing, so this list is just a small sample of possible closures.

However, the El Con Center location in Tucson is listed as vulnerable.