MONDAY June 8, 2020 jaxdailyrecord.com • 35 cents
SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES! Br ou gh
tt oy ou
r ve er bs by th &O e Daily Record
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
RETAIL
Company seeking city grant to open plant
‘It’s Daily not good:’ J.C. Penney Record closing at Regency Square JACKSONVILLE
West Virginia-based Flying W Plastics plans to invest $8 million in Northwest Jacksonville and create 28 jobs.
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
JACKSONVILLE
STORES CLOSING J.C. Penney is closing 154 stores nationwide, including in nine in Florida:
Photo by Katie Garwood
The J.C. Penney store at Regency Square Mall closed in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bankrupt J.C. Penney Co. says the store is part of its first phase of store closures.
Store owners concerned, but mall general manager says closure represents “a unique opportunity to ownership.” BY KATIE GARWOOD STAFF WRITER
As J.C. Penney Co. Inc. winds down operations at Regency Square Mall, store owners are worried about a decrease in foot traffic, with some already closing because of the pandemic.
J.C. Penney announced June 4 it is closing its Jacksonville store in Regency Square Mall as part of the first phase of 154 store closings in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The company’s three Northeast Florida department stores closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but those in The Avenues mall and the Orange Park Mall reopened last month. Those stores are not on the closings list. The Regency Square store closed in March. Nine Florida stores will close, including Regency. Liquidation sales are expected to
Bradenton: DeSoto Square Mall Cape Coral: Coralwood Shopping Center Fort Myers: Gulf Coast Town Center Jacksonville: Regency Square Mall Lake Wales: Eagle Ridge Mall Mary Esther: Santa Rosa Shopping Center Orlando: Orlando Fashion Square Sebring: Lakeshore Mall Tampa: WestShore Plaza
A West Virginia-based plastic and piping manufacturer is seeking a grant from the city to subsidize building improvements for a new plant in Northwest Jacksonville. Flying W Plastics Inc. would create 28 jobs and invest an estimated $8 million to renovate an industrial facility at 109 Stevens St., north of Interstate 10, according to documents from the city Office of Economic Development. A bill filed June 3 with City Council states the company is asking for $100,000. The money would come from interest income in the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund. A project summary filed with the Resolution 2020-312 says it would be the second Flying W Plastics plant in the U.S. and serve the company’s Florida and Southeast market customers. Flying W Plastics was established in 1984 and services municipal, oil, gas, telecommunications and commercial and residential real estate customers, according to the company website. The jobs, predominantly in manufacturing, will pay an average wage of $45,429, according to a May 18 project summary filed with the bill. The company would have the jobs in place by Dec. 31, 2021, the summary states. The city said the plant’s total
SEE REGENCY, PAGE 2
SEE PLANT, PAGE 2
JEA sues former CEO Aaron Zahn JEA filed a lawsuit June 5 against its former CEO Aaron Zahn, along with a motion seeking to halt arbitration of Zahn’s possible post-termination compensation. JEA’s board of directors voted Jan. 28 to terminate Zahn with cause based on preliminary investigations of a plan to offer the public utility for sale to a private entity and an employee compensation plan promoted by Zahn that was squashed when its potential negative financial impact to the utility was revealed. The complaint alleges that Zahn committed fraud, breached his fiduciary duty and the public trust as CEO and misrepresented the terms of his employment agreement to the board.
VOLUME 107, NO. 143 • ONE SECTION