Victoria’s Secret and JCPenney are closing stores — but what about here?
It’s shaping up to be a year of store closures around the United States.
Business Insider estimated roughly 4,300 American brand store closures were announced in January and February, in what the business news outlet called a “retail apocalypse.”
And San Luis Obispo County isn’t immune to the impending shop-pocalypse: Payless Shoe Source announced in February that it will shutter its two remaining stores in San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles in May, and Gap closed its only local store in downtown San Luis Obispo in January.
Many of the latest brands making closure announcements also have locations throughout the Central Coast, leaving San Luis Obispo County shoppers questioning the future of these stores.
Here is a brief look at two of the latest chains that have announced closures, and whether they will stay in the Central Coast.
JCPenney
The department store chain announced Feb. 28 that it planned to close 18 of its full-line stores this year, including three closures it had previously announced in January.
According to a news release, the stores closing all either required “significant capital, are minimally cash flow positive .... or represent a real estate monetization opportunity.”
But don’t worry — JCPenney Corporate Communications and Public Relations representative Carter English said the Paso Robles and Santa Maria stores will not be among those closing.
The Paso Robles store is located at 120 Niblick Road in the Woodland Plaza, while the Santa Maria store is located in the Santa Maria Town Center off Main Street.
Victoria Secret
After a rough holiday season, lingerie chain Victoria’s Secret recently announced it would close 53 of its stores in North America — up from its average of 15 stores per year historically.
According to a Feb. 27 quarterly earnings report from the company’s parent organization, L Brands, the Victoria’s Secret branch underperformed in the final part of 2018, with sales at $2.5 billion.
So far, the company has not disclosed exactly which stores made the list of those to be closed — meaning the future of the local store is up in the air.
Store manager Gaby Rodriguez told The Tribune on Monday that she had not been notified of whether the San Luis Obispo store would be among those slated for closure.
Rodriguez added that she was told by a district manager that it is unlikely the local store would be on the chopping block.
“We certainly hope that we will not,” she said.
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