Valley JCPenney stores escape the ax

J.C. Penney Co. has released the list of stores it plans to close and no Valley stores are on the list.

Just four stores in California will close: Lodi, Bishop, Orange and Richmond.

The company said in February that it planned to close up to 140 stores in an effort to cut costs. It will also close two distribution centers over the next several months as it tries to improve profitability. It also said it would initiate a voluntary early retirement program for about 6,000 eligible employees.

The list of store closures released Friday targets 138 stores.

There are eight JCPenney stores in the central San Joaquin Valley, including Fashion Fair and a home store in River Park, both in Fresno, along with Selma, Hanford Mall, Visalia Mall, Merced Mall, Los Banos and Delano.

This story was originally published March 17, 2017 at 11:27 AM with the headline "Valley JCPenney stores escape the ax."