JCPenney will close 27 stores this year, but the Glendale Galleria location is not among them
Glendale Galleria’s JCPenney will be staying put, even as its parent company plans to close 18 full-line stores and nine home-and-furniture locations this year.
Less clear is the fate of two of the mall’s other prominent tenants — Gap and Victoria’s Secret — whose parent companies also announced upcoming closures but wouldn’t comment on individual locations.
“We are not making the full list of store closures publicly available, but I can confirm that the Glendale Galleria store … will not be closing,” JCPenney spokeswoman Dana Harrington said of the location that opened in 1976.
A lackluster financial report released Feb. 28 spurred the department store’s closure decisions.
According to the report, JCPenney’s sales decreased 3.1% over the past fiscal year, which ended Feb. 2. Fourth-quarter sales decreased more than 4% compared to the same quarter the previous year.
“Comparable sales performance for the closing stores was significantly below the remaining store base and these stores operate at a much higher expense rate given the lack of productivity,” according to a company statement.
Another JCPenney spokeswoman, Sarah Holland, said she could not comment on the financial performance of the Galleria location, or any individual store, citing company policy.
JCPenney will continue to operate 846 stores nationwide, she said.
L Brands, the parent company of Victoria’s Secret, announced it will be closing 53 stores this year, also as a result of disappointing year-over-year sales.
A sales associate who picked up the phone at the Glendale Galleria location said the store will remain open. However, another associate said they could not discuss that information and that the first associate was unauthorized to comment.
Victoria’s Secret also has a store in the Burbank Town Center.
A corporate spokesperson confirmed in an email that the company will not be releasing a list of the stores closing. The same email stated the locations closing this year represent fewer than 5% of the company’s total store count.
“We close stores every year,” said Stuart Burgdoerfer, L Brands’ chief financial officer, during an earnings call. “So that’s an ongoing part of running the business. How we go about it is we look at current and projected performance, sales, profit, cash flow.”
Last year, L Brands closed 30 stores.
Gap Inc., which owns Old Navy and Banana Republic, is similarly staying mum about its Gap store in the Glendale Galleria, amid its recent announcement that it will be closing 230 stores over the next two years.
Gap has an outlet location on San Fernando Boulevard in Burbank.
“We are continuing to finalize the list of specific stores that will be closed,” Gap spokeswoman Trina Somera said.
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