After a 37-year history in Connecticut’s Quiet Corner, the J.C. Penney Media Relations Department recently announced the Mansfield store will be shuttered.
“We can confirm that the J.C. Penney store in the East Brook Mall will close effective August 3. It’s never an easy decision to close a store, especially because of the impact on our valued team members and customers. Changes such as these are essential in helping us achieve our long-term goals. We would not have moved forward with this difficult decision if we did not believe it was absolutely necessary for the future growth of our Company,” the J.C. Penney Media Relations Department stated in an e-mail to Patch.
It isn’t a surprise, J.C. Penney was on the list of four retailers likely to close this year by NBC News Business.
J.C. Penney lists the Mansfield’s store’s services as featuring a salon and jewelry.
The media relations department failed to answer questions whether other stores in Connecticut, Rhode Island, or Massachusetts would also be closed in the near future.
Closest J.C. Penney stores to Mansfield include Buckland Hills Mall in Manchester (18.5 miles), Crystal Mall in Waterford (23.6 miles), Sturbridge Plaza in Sturbridge, Mass. (27.5 miles), West Farms Mall in Farmington (28.7 miles), and the Franklin Shopping Plaza in Westerly, R.I. (31.8 miles).
History of East Brook Mall
According to the Hartford Courant, J.C. Penney opened in the Willimantic Plaza in 1976 and moved to a 35,522-square-foot space at the East Brook Mall’s northern end in 1995. At that time, J.C. Penney was heralded as a department store that would bring additional traffic to the small enclosed shopping mall. The space was originally occupied by Sage Allen from 1975-1993 then Cherry & Webb 1993-1995.
J.C. Penney is located next to a 30,046-square-foot T.J. Maxx, which opened in the former Waldbaum’s Food Mart in Spring 1996, the Hartford Courant reported.
According to Mansfield Patch, Michael’s Arts and Crafts recently opened in a 14,528-square-foot addition to the mall structure next to T.J. Maxx.
The Daily Campus reported that Cinema North opened a 19,661-square-foot Mansfield Movieplex, an 8-screen movie theater, in the mall’s west wing in 2004. It closed in 2009, according to Cinema Treasures, and reopened less than a month later under new ownership by Zurich Cinemas.
According to Windham Today, Cardio Express opened a 14,000-square-foot fitness center in 2010 between J.C. Penney and the Mansfield Movieplex.
The mall’s southern anchor spot was occupied by Caldor 1975-1999 and then by Ames 1999-2002. It sat vacant for several years before being renovated allowing Kohl’s to open a 71,339-square-foot store in 2005.
An Applebee’s and Savings Institute Bank were approved as outparcels on the south end of the mall property in 2001, according to the Mansfield Planning and Zoning Commission.
What do you think should be the fourth store to open in the East Brook Mall’s northern anchor space after J.C. Penney closes?
