It was once one of the largest department store chains in the country – now JC Penney is shrinking its retail footprint, and thousands of employees are being asked to retire early.

Penny says 13 to 14 percent of their stores are only bringing in about five percent of their business.

However, they just posted a quarterly profit as opposed to a loss one year ago.

There are about 20 Penny stores in Michigan and the company won't announce which stores will be closing for several weeks.