JCPenney Closes 150K-SF Manhattan Mall Location

JCPenney is closing two of its five remaining New York City stores, the retailer announced Tuesday. The 150,000-square-foot Manhattan Mall location near Herald Square will not reopen from the pandemic shutdown, while the Kings Plaza store in Brooklyn will close permanently on Sept. 27.

Plano, TX-based JCPenney filed for bankruptcy protection in May, and announced store closings. “While closing stores is always an extremely difficult decision, our store optimization strategy is vital to ensuring we emerge from both Chapter 11 and the COVID-19 pandemic as a stronger retailer,” CEO Jill Soltau said last month.

The Manhattan Mall, formerly the flagship location of the Gimbels department store chain, had counted JCPenney as a tenant since 2009. The store’s closure leaves the Vornado Realty Trust property with no anchor tenant.

JCPenney’s three other New York City stores—in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island—are expected to remain open, NBC News reported.

Photo courtesy of Vornado Realty Trust.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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