On Wednesday, retailer JC Penney announced that it would be closing 33 stores and putting 2000 people out of work. CEO Mike Ullman says this addresses “a strategic priority to improve the profitability of our stores.”

The company is still recovering from an overhaul of its retail operations that went sour. Retail expert and founder of America’s Research Group, Britt Beemer says watch for more retailers following suit:

You are going to see a lot of retailers, in my mind, close stores this year because they cannot go forward with more than 10 percent of their stores underperforming. And Penney’s probably had 20 percent of their stores underperforming. So you’ll even see more stores closing for Penney’s.

 Britt Beemer spoke with Marketplace Morning Report host David Brancaccio.