A storeroom at the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
The fire alarm at Salem’s JCPenney building will not stop beeping.
The store where generations of Salem residents went for back-to-school clothes and family portraits taken closed on Sunday, Oct. 18, following the retailer’s bankruptcy.
For now, the 102,500-square-foot building, built in 1964 at 305 Liberty St. N.E, will remain empty and dark until a new owner breathes new life into it.
After the building was shut down, the fire alarm continued working even after it was disconnected from its central system, said Nick Williams, commercial real estate adviser with SVN Commercial Advisor, which is brokering the building’s sale.
The alarm’s high-pitched squeal echoes through the empty department store. Part of the ceiling has crumbled onto an escalator that no longer carries anyone. The store’s front windows are papered.
The inventory is gone but the eerily vacant building is scattered with artifacts left behind.
Clusters of empty racks and undressed mannequins are stowed throughout the building. A mural of a desert landscape remains picture perfect. Signs that once directed customers to portraits and other departments remain in place. The microwave and water cooler in the breakroom are collecting dust. As the building was emptied, personal items were left behind in back offices, including a Bible and purse full of fruit bars and other snacks.
“It’s kind of a trip,” said Williams, who recalled shopping with his grandmother at the store as a kid and later taking his daughters there.
While the commercial real estate market faces challenges caused by the pandemic and changing consumer preferences, Williams said he thinks a buyer will be lined up within months.
– Jake Thomas
RELATED COVERAGE: The JCPenney building is empty. How it’s developed could change downtown
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The sales floor is empty at the closed JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Paper covers the front windows and doors of the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Nick Williams, commercial real estate adviser, stands in a back storeroom at the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
A mannequin lies on the floor of the storeroom of the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Mannequins are seen in a mirrored pillar at the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Stacked up tables next to a mural at the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Nick Williams, a commercial real estate agent, stands in the back storeroom at the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Mannequins and stacked tables fill a corner of the closed JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
The roof of the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
A sticker on a locker in the break room at the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Nick Williams, commercial real estate adviser, shines a light on a control panel at the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
The roof of the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
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