Appliance division. At street level, the divide is even starker.
Sears and J. C. Penney, retailers whose wares are aimed squarely at middle-class Americans, are both
in dire straits ... would shutter its flagship store on State Street in downtown
Chicago, and J. C. Penney announced the closings of 33 stores and 2,000 layoffs.
Loehmann's, where generations ... Investors have taken notice of the shrinking middle. Shares of Sears and J. C. Penney have fallen
more than 5o percent since the end of 2009, even as upper