Sandusky Mall says it has no news about fate of J.C. Penney store

PERKINS TWP. — The owners of Sandusky Mall are downplaying reports that the J.C. Penney department store chain plans to shut down some of its stores this year.Joe Bell, a spokesman for the Cafaro Company, said company officials have received no indication the Penney store at Sandusky Mall might be closed."I wouldn't put a whole lot of credence in that just yet," Bell said.The Penney website does not have any press releases about possible closings, but Fortune reported on Jan. 12 that although Penney has been doing relatively well among department store chains, it plans this year to close "a few" of its 1,014 stores.Fortune said the closures would be modest in comparison to the store closures announced by Sears and Macy's.Sears shut down its Sandusky store last year, and Macy's recently announced it also will close its store this spring at Sandusky Mall.The announcement left the mall with two anchor stores, Elder-Beerman and Penneys, although it also has other important standalone stores nearby, such as Best Buy.The Register contacted the J.C. Penney Co. to clarify how Sandusky stands, but didn't learn much."We have not shared details regarding potential store closures in 2017," said Joey Thomas, a Penneys spokesman, in an email to the Register.Bell said his company has had no contact from Penney indicating any news for the Sandusky location or for the company's other retail sites hosting a Penney store.He admitted that with the other news at the mall, waiting to see if the Penney will drop had gotten everyone's attention."I can understand how it's making people nervous," Bell said. "Everybody's a little on edge."The Dallas Morning News, apparently making the earliest report on Penney, reported on Jan. 11 that Penney CEO Marvin Ellison, speaking at a Dallas real estate conference, discussed the planned closings."We're going through an analysis now," Ellison said. "We have certain locations that we readily admit we have to downsize."Penneys closed seven stores in 2016, mostly in smaller markets, the Dallas newspaper reported.Bell said he has seen the same news clippings the Register saw."It sounds more like some kind of early analytical stuff," he said.Bell said efforts continue to find new tenants for the Sears and Macy's buildings."The process is underway, but not far enough down the road to name anybody as a new tenant," he said.Shoppers stand outside JCPenney at the Sandusky Mall on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017.