It's been a rough go for businesses across New Jersey over the past couple of years.

Within the past several months, shoppers in the Garden State have seen one of the last Kmart stores in existence close, a handful of supermarkets have shut down, and countless mom-and-pop stores and restaurants have locked their doors for good.

Business is tough. Whether because of COVID, supply chain issues, the lack of employees, inflation, or consumers changing their spending and shopping habits, the smallest and biggest of companies find themselves having to take a second look at what they're doing.

Even for stores that sell stuff that everyone needs every day -- clothes and shoes, for example -- turning a profit can be an uphill battle.

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Case in point, a published report says another big, national department store is expected to close one of its locations in New Jersey.

According to a YouTube video that cites an article in the Asbury Park Press, JCPenney at Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, which has been a part of that shopping center since 1976, may soon be shutting down for good.

Per that video, the store could close as early as October and the mall's owner is apparently working on plans to demolish the store and build hundreds of apartments in its place.

JCPenney at Monmouth Mall in Eatontown NJ - Photo: Google Maps
JCPenney at Monmouth Mall in Eatontown NJ - Photo: Google Maps
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No official comment yet

Neither JCPenney corporate management nor anyone from Monmouth Mall management has commented on the Asbury Park Press story.

Not the first Penney's store to leave NJ

Inside JCPenney at Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing - Photo: Chris Coleman
Inside JCPenney at Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing - Photo: Chris Coleman
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Over the past few years, several JCPenney stores have closed in New Jersey. Smaller stores in Rio Grande and at the Cumberland Mall in Vineland shut down. In the summer of 2019, their large store at Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing closed, which ended a run in Atlantic County that started in 1976 at the former Shore Mall in Egg Harbor Township.

Old signage for JCPenney at Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
Old signage for JCPenney at Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
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