Why J.C. Penney's CEO Isn't Closing More Stores

J.C. Penney’s online sales are booming. Many of its stores are in struggling malls. And sales per square foot are about one-third below levels of five years ago. Yet despite all that, the resurgent department store’s new CEO, Marvin Ellison, is adamant that J.C. Penney won’t undertake any wholesale closings of stores in its 1,020-location fleet. Penney has already eliminated 83 stores over the last three years to shake off some of its retail dead weight. But this year, in April, it will close only seven locations, far fewer than the 36 stores Macy’s recently closed, the 50 closings Sears Holdings has planned, or even the 18 that Kohl’s recently announced.