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.


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