One of the 20 Younkers department stores in Iowa is closing. The Younkers store in the Old Capitol Mall in Iowa City will be closed by the end of January. Sixty people are employed at the store and they’re being offered severance packages or the opportunity to transfer to another Younkers store. Some of those employees had worked at the store since it opened in 1980. The Younkers chain is owned by Saks, Incorporated, which runs Saks Fifth Avenue and nine other department store chains. In a prepared statement, Saks officials said the closure of the Younkers store in Iowa City was a difficult decision, but offered no other explanation for shutting it down. Saks officials say Younkers customers in the Iowa City area will be able to shop at Younkers stores in Coralville and Cedar Rapids. Saks owns nearly 400 department stores in 40 states and employs about 55-thousand.
