GGP Mall Gets J.C. Penney

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN-General Growth Properties’ Eden Prairie Center here will be home to a new J.C. Penney store next spring, according to executives. The store will go into a 130,000-sf unit vacated by a former Mervyns unit.

The stores will be J.C. Penney’s ninth in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, and one of five new units to open in the area since 2003. The Plano, TX-based retailer has been in the market for 86 years.

J.C. Penney’s growth in the area mirrors it overall ramp up across the country. Last year the retailer opened 18 new units, the most it had opened in eight years, and the company plans 27 new stores. The company is also making a push to open stores off-mall and recently signed a deal with Sephora to put the cosmetic retailer’s shops inside its new units.