Penney’s, Pier 1, Gordmans & more: chains shutter some stores – what we know now about local outlets

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to show a large impact on retail across the country. Several national chains with local locations could see changes: bankruptcy, shut downs and more.

• Pier 1: The home goods chain fields stores near Boise Towne Square and at Village at Meridian. It said Tuesday it would enter bankruptcy and close all stores “as soon as reasonably possible.” It said it looked for ways to keep the doors open, but decided to liquidate. The company already closed 450 stores since last year, and currently operates about 500.
• JC Penney: The national department operates two local locations, one at Boise Towne Square and another in Nampa. The chain, founded next door in Wyoming, said it would cut nearly 30 percent of its stores – a total of 242 locations. Penney’s entered bankruptcy protection in recent days. Speculation or leading headlines elsewhere aside, there’s no indication from the retailer on which stores could close – and the Boise Towne Square Mall remains a grade “A” shopping center. A trade publication said the retailer is in talks with Amazon about a possible acquisition.
• Gordmans: This retailer went through the wringer once before, and said it would close all its stores. Instead, a buyer swooped in to operate some of the locations. In our area, the store in SE Boise closed, while a location at Village at Meridian remained. Now the new chain filed for bankruptcy and said it would close all locations.
• LOFT: As BoiseDev previously reported, the LOFT store in Downtown Boise closed its doors for good coming out of the pandemic shutdowns. The closure came due to an upcoming change in use of its downtown store location.
• Office Depot: The office supply chain said it would close stores and cut jobs across the country in the next two years. The store in Downtown Boise on Broad St. will close by early next year.
• J. Crew: The preppy chain operates two local stores – a J. Crew Factory location at Boise Towne Square and a Madewell offshoot at Village at Meridian. The chain was the first to file for bankruptcy coming out of the mass shutdowns from the pandemic. For now, all stores will remain open.