(Photo By Flickr User Sam Howzit)

JCPenney stores have been a staple in the community and nation for over 10 decades.

Now, like so many others, the time has come to downsize.

JCPenney released a list of 138 stores that will permanently close. Seven of the locations are in Illinois,

Rob Karr is President and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and said change is hard, but these store closures reflect what consumers want.

Karr said in a statement,

“I think we have to keep a little perspective. The retail industry is the most dynamic of the business sectors. It’s always in a state of constant evolution and I think that evolution is getting more rapid.” 

Karr also said despite recent closures, brick and mortar stores are here to stay, but how they look and feel in the future may be different.

He also added,

“Amazon’s opening a brick and mortar book store to go with their service so I think it’s figuring out how to make all these channels work together to serve the consumer.” 

The seven stores that will be closing in Illinois are as follows:

– Eastland Mall, Bloomington, IL
– Fulton Square, Canton, IL
– Village Square Mall, Effingham, IL
– Freestanding, Macomb, IL
– Peru Mall, Peru, IL
– Northland Mall, Sterling, IL
– Centerpointe of Woodridge, Woodridge, IL

The closures, most of which are scheduled to happen in June, represent about 14 percent of the department store operator’s current store count.

Most of the stores that are closing will begin the liquidation process around this time next month.

There will be approximately 5,000 Penney’s employees nationwide who will be affected by the closings.

(Information courtesy of chicago.cbslocal.com & WBBM-TV)