JCPenny announced this week what stores it will be closing as a result of their bankruptcy and one in Montana is included in the initial round of 154 store closures. The good news, it's not the Billings store in Rimrock Mall. The bad news, it's the JCPenny in Bozeman that didn't make the cut and will likely begin liquidation sales as soon as the judge signs off. USA Today says the judge is expected to give the okay on June 11th and at that point stores will initiate their closure process.

We can't really blame the closure of JCPenny stores on the coronavirus (while I'm sure that didn't help). The companies struggle has been well documented by those in the financial industry and many were predicting tough times for the 118-year-old company for quite some time. Online shopping, brand identity problems and a mountain of debt all make for a really bad combination of issues facing retailers.

I'm happy our JCPenny is remaining open (for now anyway) here in Billings. It's always sad to see stores close and we really don't need another empty anchor spot in Rimrock Mall. Although, I can't honestly remember the last time I bought anything at Penny's. Maybe years ago for a dress belt for a friend's wedding or something? Who knows. I do remember my mom dragging us into JCPenny to buy school clothes when I was a little kid. What were those knock-off brand jeans called that they carried? Toughies? Ruffies? Something like that.

H/T USA Today

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