"J.C. Penney attempted unsuccessfully to persuade creditors earlier this year to restructure and push out due dates on portions of its nearly $4 billion of long-term debt without the need for bankruptcy proceedings. It hoped to buy time for Chief Executive Jill Soltau’s turnaround plan to bear fruit, as it faced fierce competition from e-commerce firms as well as discount retailers such as the TJX Cos Inc’s Marshalls and T.J. Maxx chains."
This is the key. Creditors aren't going to be more willing to modify terms because of a pandemic. I'm not going to say it's all over for JCP, but we're about to see some drastic changes within the company. Store closures and job losses will accelerate. If you're tenured and expensive, you're probably out. Remaining hourly associates will return one of the worst companies in retail.