Tucson is losing yet another department store with J.C. Penney announcing that it will close the El Con location. Just down the road, Macy’s at Park Place mall is liquidating inventory as it prepares to shut down.
J.C. Penney said Thursday that it will start closing 154 of its stores next week in what it is calling the first phase of its efforts to shrink its footprint. Closing sales are expected to begin June 12.
The Plano, Texas-based retailer said it could take about 10 to 16 weeks to complete the closures. A list of the stores closing was published on Penney’s website.
The closure of the El Con location, 3501 E. Broadway, leaves two J.C. Penneys in Tucson — one on the southwest side, 5265 S. Calle Santa Cruz, and the other at Tucson Mall, 4530 N. Oracle Road.
Tucsonans looking for something to do while socially distancing have found it in pop-up drive-in theaters around town.
Penney filed for bankruptcy protection last month, making it the biggest retailer to do so since the coronavirus pandemic forced nonessential stores to be shut down temporarily. J.Crew and Neiman Marcus sought bankruptcy protection days before J.C. Penney. All three were laden with debt and had trouble connecting with shoppers, who are increasingly skipping the mall and shopping online.
As part of its bankruptcy reorganization, Penney said it planned to permanently close nearly a third of its 846 stores in the next two years. That would leave it with just over 600 locations.
Photos: J.C. Penney stores in Tucson
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J.C. Penney Company store in downtown Tucson in 1955. It's now the Chicago Music Store.
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Standard Oil gas station and Albert Steinfeld Hardware at 100 N. Stone in 1957. They were demolished to build J.C. Penney building. It is now the main library plaza.
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This is Tucson. Really. It was December, 1956, and downtown was exploding with development. Looking north from about Pennington east of Stone Ave. Background, upper left is the Arizona Land Title Building. In front of that, the Pima Savings and Loan building. Foreground, left, is J.C. Penney and right is Jacome's Department Store. At right, behind the steel, the Southern Arizona Bank Building. Then there's the two guys suspended from the crane.
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James Cash Penney, far right, the founder and chairman of the board for J.C. Penney Co., stands in front of one of his newest stores in his chain on North Stone Avenue on September 16, 1957. It also happened to be his birthday and several Tucson leaders throw him a party to commemorate the occasion.
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Exterior of the then new JC Penney on North Stone Avenue during opening day on September 19, 1957. Note, a portion of the Pima County Courthouse is on the upper left side of the photo. The founder, JC Penney himself, was present for the new 62,000 square foot store. The store was located next to the Jacome's and Steinfelds department stores. Over the years all the buildings were torn down and replaced by the Joel Valdez Main Library. At the time Penney's had 1,700 stores in its chain.
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Interior of the then new JC Penney on North Stone Avenue during opening day on September 19, 1957. The founder, JC Penney himself, was present for the new 62,000 square foot store. The store was located next to the Jacome's and Steinfelds department stores. Over the years all the buildings were torn down and replaced by the Joel Valdez Main Library. At the time Penney's had 1,700 stores in its chain.
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The 1957 UA Homecoming parade on Stone Ave in downtown Tucson passed by the Pioneer Hotel and Tucson's biggest department stores: Steinfeld's, Jacomé's and J.C. Penney.
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Pat Palmer helps Kaleb Smithee of Roadrunner Elementary School pick out clothes during a shopping spree at J.C. Penney in El Con Mall, 2008. Catalina Mountain Elks Lodge gave each student $100 worth of shoes and clothing.
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A section of the El Con Mall area near the JC Penney store in 2004.
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Rosana Paz and her mother Rosamaria Valenzuela stand in line to pay for their items during the Black Friday sale at JC Penney at El Con Mall on Friday, November 23, 2012.
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A crowd of perhaps 3,000 waited expectantly at the El Con Shopping Center in front of J.C. Penney in 1979 for the saddlebags to be opened on a giant burro pinata, to mark the dedication of the shopping center's $6 million mall addition.
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Shoppers crowd around Penney's at El Con Mall, Tucson, in December, 1980.
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Work continues on the JC Penney department store at El Con Mall on East Broadway Boulevard on March 18, 1971.
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What was once the front, is now the rear of the JC Penney department store at the El Con Mall, 3501 E Broadway. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on March 24, 2016.
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El Con Mall in Tucson, 1998. The J.C. Penney store is in the center of the mall.
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An aerial photo of El Con Mall in 1978. J.C. Penney is in the center of the mall.
