At least three stores in Myrtle Beach Mall to close in the coming months
At least three stores in Myrtle Beach Mall soon will be closing.
The mall’s J.C. Penney, Bath & Body Works and Hallmark will each close in the coming months.
The J.C. Penney store is among six in the U.S. that are closing, according to USA Today. The stores will have “an effective closing date of April 24,” Brooke Buchanan, senior vice president of communications, said in a statement to the news outlet.
The shopping center’s Hallmark store is also closing, though a date has yet to be announced. A sign at the entrance says “Store Closing Soon.” The sign also said “All sales are final” and most items were 20 percent to 75 percent off while noting it would no longer be accepting Crown Rewards Cards for purchases.
The store also announced its impending closure on Facebook. “Kendall’s Hallmark is closing Myrtle Beach mall store. Lots of fixtures on sale at bargain prices. Hurry in for best selection,” a Thursday post reads.
L Brands, the parent company of Bath & Body Works, confirmed to The Sun News that its Myrtle Beach Mall store will be closing Jan. 25. The company said there are no plans to relocate the store while instead referring customers to its location at Coastal Grand Mall. The Myrtle Beach Mall location was advertising a “semi-annual” sale in which select items were 75 percent off.
Myrtle Beach Mall is in a transition phase as plans have it being redeveloped into an outdoor shopping center called “The District.” The concept is to make a Market Common-style shopping center that takes full advantage of Myrtle’s natural resources.
DDC Engineers’ Mike Wooten previously said the plans will preserve parts of the mall, which makes the redevelopment more of a challenge than a fresh start. On Saturday, he said designs for the project were 65 to 70 percent done but he said a timetable for the transition was unclear.
Myrtle Beach Mall Vice President and General Manager Joe Perl provided a written statement concerning store closings and the mall’s redevelopment Thursday.
“As a policy, we don’t comment on individual store closings, but as you know we are in the final stages of planning for a major re-development of the Myrtle Beach Mall that will have major changes and bring new and exciting tenants to the location,” he said. “We are very excited about the opportunity and will announce more details soon.”
The project first went in front of Horry County Planning Commission on Dec. 27, 2018. The mall, which opened in 1986, has 39 businesses listed in a directory on its website. Aside from J.C. Penney, the mall includes anchor businesses Bass Pro Shops, Belk and AMC Theaters.
Other J.C. Penney locations closing according to USA Today are in the following cities: Missoula, Montana; Valley Stream, New York; Raleigh, North Carolina; Akron, Ohio; and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
NOTE: On Thursday, June 4, competing lenders agreed to terms of a $900 million financing package for JC Penney – which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 15 – that was approved in bankruptcy court.
This story was originally published January 18, 2020 at 2:11 PM.
