(MURFREESBORO) In checking the first round of 154 JC Penny stores set to close, the local store in Murfreesboro's Stones River Town Center has been spared. The retail giant has a long history in Murfreesboro.

After 118-years, the retailer filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Officials indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic was the event that pushed the giant off the cliff.

JC Penny and Murfreesboro

JC Penny has a long list of success in Murfreesboro. It opened originally on the northside of the Murfreesboro square, and people still talk about the wire basket that took cash and paperwork from the checkout counter to the finance section in the mezzanine.

Then a large multi-level JC Penny was built on the corner of North Maple and College Street. Currently, a multi-level office complex owned by Pinnacle Financial Partners is on the site today.

Prior to JC Penny and Pinnacle, the old Haynes Hotel from the 1890s was on that corner. It was razed in 1958 for the JC Penny Plaza.

The firms head James Cash Penny visited Murfreesboro several times and was a guest on WGNS in the late 40s and early 50s. In 1971 he died of a heart attack in New York City.

(Above photo) WGNS' John Hood talks with James Cash Penny on the Good Neighbor Station during the opening of the firm's Maple Street store.

First Round of Closings

However, Tennessee does loose six stores on the block:

• Bradley Square, 200 Paul Huff Pkwy NW, Ste 44, Cleveland, TN 37312
• Columbia Mall, 800 S James Campbell Blvd., Columbia, TN
• Dyersburg Mall, 2700 Lake Rd., Dyersburg, TN
• Kingsport Town Center, 2101 Fort Henry Dr., Kingsport, TN
• Foothills Mall, 101 Foothills Mall, Maryville, TN
• Three Star Mall, 1410 Sparta St., McMinnville, TN

Again, the Murfreesboro JC Penny is not on the first round list of stores to close.