What’s a Big and Tall Guy to Do Without JC Penney?

It felt like 2020 would be the year we'd get the news that Owensboro's JC Penney, one of Towne Square Mall's original anchor stores, would shut its doors.

The iconic retailer had been closing stores across the country for the last couple of years and it just seemed that way.

Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit and businesses were forced to close for a few months, it was just too much and the store announced its shuttering.

I'm old enough to remember JC Penney's downtown store and the story about an argument my mother had with an employee because he wouldn't let her use the freight elevator (the only elevator they had) to get me in my stroller up to the second floor.

Yes, I've been a customer for a long time.

One of the reasons is that I can't find big and tall clothing anywhere else in Owensboro. Trust me, I've searched.

Now, that word "tall" is very important, and here's why I bring it up.

On a shirt's tag, if it just says 2X, that's not enough because it won't be long enough. It needs to say 2XT. I actually have a hard time explaining that distinction but that's because many people don't need to shop for "tall" clothing.

And JC Penney carried "tall" clothing.

As one who likes to shop local (although using a national retailer is hardly that, I realize), this is one area in which, unfortunately, I cannot and have to go out of town.

So I'll miss JC Penney and hope that my cries for large clothes will be heard and something else will pop up in the near future.