J.C. Penney to Close Up to 140 Stores – Is Rochester’s One of Them?

J.C. Penney has more than 1,000 stores across the country right now, including 25 in Minnesota, and one here in Rochester.

According to the announcement Friday morning, 130-140 stores will close their doors and they'll offer buyouts to 6,000 workers across the U.S.

Exactly which stores is uncertain as the company won’t say right now, but they plan to release the full list in mid-March.

The locations being closed either need a lot of investment to bring them up to code with the “new brand standard”, or are barely making any money due to the increase of online sellers, even though reports say they did quite well over this years holiday period.

In the meantime, J.C. Penney is adding toys, beauty products, appliances and home goods as it tries to appeal to a customer base made up of 70% women and 70% homeowners.

So while we won't exactly know the fate of our own Rochester store, or the next nearest location in Winona until next month, we at least know that if they miss the cut they'll at least be getting a serious upgrade in the future.