San Fernando's JC Penney closure goes national

A 'Marketplace" reporter made the drive out to the city of San Fernando to do a piece on the upset over closure of the town's once-popular J.C. Penney store. The story begins with a historical error — San Fernando is not older than Los Angeles, the scale actually tilts almost 100 years the other way — but goes on to explore the hopes of some in town that the chain will either reconsider or the Penney's will be replaced by something better. It's partly civic pride is a city better known recently for the goofiness of its political leaders, and partly fear over more loss of business. There's also the separate concern among some, supported by the owner of the building that JC Penney occupied, publisher and 'Fernando political player Severyn Ashkenazy, that at least the neon sign be preserved.

Historical note: San Fernando was founded in 1874 by state senator Charles Maclay as a land play disguised as a train stop, precisely because of its proximity to the railroad terminus in Los Angeles. The mission that shares its name has never been part of the city of San Fernando. It's across the line in the Los Angeles community of Mission Hills.