J.C. Penney files for bankruptcy protection

8 Min ReadNEW YORK(Reuters) - J.C. Penney Co Inc filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday with plans to permanently close some stores and also explore a possible sale, making it the latest brick-and-mortar retailer to crumble as prolonged store closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic drive a final stake through long-troubled businesses. While J.C. Penney plans to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy proceedings after eliminating several billion dollars of debt, it will also explore a sale as part of the terms of its new financing, the company said. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, J.C. Penney was struggling with nearly $4 billion of debt and pressure from both discount retailers and e-commerce companies. Under one plan being discussed, J.C. Penney would emerge from bankruptcy as two separate companies, the sources said. The company earlier this month resolved a legal dispute with Sephora, the French beauty chain owned by LVMH that had threatened to end its agreement to sell cosmetics inside J.C. Penney stores.