We shopped at JCPenney and Sears, and both had messy stores with deep sales. Here's why JCPenney was still the better option.

Shoshy Ciment/Business Insider

JCPenney had a large clearance section.

• JCPenney and Sears are both department store chains that have seen better days.
• Sears avoided liquidation in February after it was bought by the company's chairman, Eddie Lampert. The store recently laid off 250 employees at its corporate headquarters and expects multiple store closures.
• JCPenney plans to close 27 stores in 13 states and reported a 9% same-store sales decrease for the second quarter of 2019.
• We shopped at both stores and saw similar issues in each, but JCPenney's in-store features and better offerings made it the better store overall.
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Things aren't looking great for JCPenney and Sears.

Though practically bedrocks of American retail, both stores have fallen on hard times.

Sears chairman Eddie Lampert bought the company in February to help it avoid liquidation, but the company recently laid off 250 employees at its corporate headquarters and announced multiple store closures across the country.

Read more: We shopped at Kohl's and JCPenney and both had real issues. Here's why I'd rather shop at Kohl's anyway.

JCPenney is also struggling, and has struggled to grow sales and growth. The company reported a 9% same-store sales decrease for the second quarter of 2019 and had plans to close 27 stores in 13 states.

Both Sears and JCPenney are struggling - and the proof is in the stores. We shopped at both and saw messy aisles, lots of sales, and broken mannequins galore.

Overall however, JCPenney was in better shape than Sears for a few key reasons, including better offerings in certain departments and multiple in-store centers like a salon and portrait center.

Here's what we saw: