JCPenney Sets Sept. 20 Ross Park Mall Closure — Jcpenney Ross Park Mall Closure

JCPenney Ross Park Mall closure lands on Sept. 20, when the Allegheny County store will shut after the company said it cannot keep the location open under its current lease terms. The move removes one of Ross Park Mall’s anchor tenants from the sixth largest shopping mall in Pennsylvania.

Ross Park Mall and JCPenney

The company said it has been unable to find another suitable location in the market, leaving the Pittsburgh, Pa., store on a fixed countdown. For shoppers who use JCPenney as a regular stop at Ross Park Mall, the date now matters as the point when that option disappears from the center.

The store had already been reduced to one floor in 2019, a sign of the pressure on the location before this week’s announcement. That earlier downsizing makes the Sept. 20 closure the latest step in a longer contraction at the site rather than an isolated move.

JCPenney after May 2020

May 2020 brought JCPenney’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, and later in 2020 Brookfield Property Partners and Simon Property Group bought the company. Those changes fit a broader reshaping of the retailer that now includes nearly 650 stores, even as some individual locations no longer fit the company’s lease or market plans.

Ross Park Mall is owned by Simon Property Group, which adds another layer to the closure at a major Pennsylvania shopping center already tied to one of JCPenney’s owners. The store’s exit leaves the mall to absorb the loss of a familiar anchor while JCPenney keeps reassessing where it can operate.

The company said it is grateful to its dedicated associates and loyal customers at the Pittsburgh, Pa., location. For local shoppers, the practical cutoff is simple: Sept. 20 is the last day on the calendar for the Ross Park Mall store, and the lease issue has already closed off any path to keeping it open in its current form.