JCPenney, hit hard by COVID-19, will close Salem Center store in nationwide cutback

JCPenney is closing its downtown Salem store, part of a nationwide cutback that includes shuttering 154 stores. 

The retail giant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy May 15 after being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic limits on retail.

The closure is another major blow to downtown's Salem Center mall, which went through a foreclosure process and saw anchor business Nordstorm close in 2018. 

In addition to the Salem location, JCPenney is also closing stores in Bend, McMinnville and Roseburg. It will keep open stores in Eugene, Happy Valley Medford and Portland, according to the company’s website.

"This decision was made following a comprehensive evaluation of our retail footprint and a careful analysis of store performance and future strategic fit as we go through the restructuring process," JCPenney spokeswoman Kristen Bennett said. 

The Salem JCPenney, which has been closed since March 18 due to COVID-19, will reopen June 12 for a liquidation sale that will last 10 to 16 weeks, company officials said.

Company officials would not detail the number of people who would lose their jobs in Salem or Oregon specifically, but said "benefits-eligible associates will be paid severance pending court approval." 

Salem business officials called the move disappointing but not surprising given the changing climate around retail that's been turbocharged during COVID-19 cutbacks. 

"It's very sad to lose so many jobs and JCPenney has been a key anchor in Salem for a long time," said Kristin Retherford, urban development director for the City of Salem. "But Salem is not unique in facing this challenge as retail and real estate reinvent themselves. There's a lot of good examples around the country of buildings like this being repurposed." 

Retherford said the Nordstorm building, for example, had been purchased by a developer that had plans for the space, but those have been slowed in the past few months. 

She added that both the Nordstorm and JCPenney buildings would qualify for urban renewal grants for buildings to evolve into whatever their role will be in the future.  

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JCPenney is one of the oldest businesses in Salem. It first opened in Salem on April 11, 1917, at Liberty Street NE, in what is now known as the Metropolitan Building. The company was already entrenched in Oregon, with 11 other stores strategically located throughout the state, but the Salem location was its biggest at the time. 

In 1965, having outgrown that space, the store moved less than two blocks north to its current location on the corner of Liberty and Chemeketa streets.

"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 with greater financial flexibility to allow us to continue serving our loyal customers for decades to come," said Jill Soltau, chief executive officer of JCPenney, in a statement.

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This story will be updated. 

Zach Urness has been a reporter, photographer and videographer in Oregon for 12 years. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.