JCPenney closing at Midway Mall

ELYRIA — Midway Mall will lose another anchor this summer as JCPenney announced Thursday that its store there will close July 5. "This decision is the result of an ongoing review of our store portfolio, which includes assessing locations that may not meet our required financial targets or represent an opportunity to capitalize on a beneficial real estate asset," company spokesman Carter English said in an email to The Chronicle-Telegram. "It's never easy taking actions that directly impact our valued associates and customers, however we feel this is a necessary business decision." The store is one of 18 the retail clothing and housewares stores the company will close this year, it said in a news release and earnings statement posted Thursday on its website. Another nine JCPenney home furnishing and furniture stores, including one in North Olmsted, also are scheduled to close, the company announced. JCPenney still has more than 860 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and employs more than 98,000 people. It wasn't immediately clear how many employees will be affected by the Elyria store's closing. English said eligible employees who do not transfer to other JCPenney stores will receive separation benefits, and all may participate in a free, three-hour on-site career training class including tips on resume writing, interviewing and more. There is another JCPenney in Avon and one in North Olmsted in Great Northern Mall aside from the furnishing store in a separate building at Great Northern. Elyria Mayor Holly Brinda said it was disappointing to see the store leave the mall, which has lost numerous businesses in recent years under multiple owners. She said the city's calls to mall owner Namdar Realty Group referencing rumors of the closing had not been returned as of 5 p.m. Thursday. JC Penney is the final anchor to leave Midway, which when it was robust featured Macy's, Sears, Penney's and Dillard's. Brinda said many retailers have to react to changing consumer behavior, including increased online shopping. "Like for so many other retailers in the United States, consumer behavior is changing so rapidly they're trying to react to it," she said. "If this is a decision through JCPenney corporate, unfortunately there's nothing the city of Elyria can do to change their mind." That said, Brinda said the city has been preparing "for quite a while" a redevelopment plan for the Midway Mall area. "And we've invested in that," she said. "We're somewhat over-commercialized there, and we've made moves to repurpose the property, bringing regional businesses to that area that aren't duplicated somewhere else." Regional businesses like Designer Fashion Warehouse and Johnny K's Powersports are two businesses recently attracted to the area that have a regional draw, Brinda said. Meanwhile, Uncle Bo's Slow-n-Low BBQ restaurant at 2000 Midway Mall will start taking employment applications — which can be found online at www.unclebosbbq.com — during normal business hours March 11. The restaurant has projected an opening date in April, after its smokers are installed, it recently announced on Facebook. The parcels on which Sears, Sears Automotive and Red Lobster sit also recently was sold, and Brinda said the city continues to work with developers to build apartments or office space and attract healthcare, family entertainment, high-end discount and restaurant businesses to the mall area, which she said is "well-positioned" with both Interstate 90 and the Ohio Turnpike close by. Just west across state Route 57, another sale went through this week when the Best Western Inn at 636 Griswold Road was sold by Lorain-Elyria Motel Inc. to Shreejibapa Investments of Beachwood for a total of $3.075 million, according to the Lorain County Auditor's Office. Brinda said the Best Western property "clearly needs some added investment" and that the sale could "be beneficial" for the property. "So there are a lot of things in flux in the mall area. Some of it is positive and some of it still is in flux," she said. "Certainly losing Penney's is a blow to the mall, no doubt about it." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or do'brien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.