Figure 1.--Here we see a JC Penney catalog item offering tank tops and camp shorts. We do not have the date of this catalog, bit would guess the 1970s. |
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JC Penney was founded by James Cash Penney. He called his first stores Golden Rule Store. He opened the first one in 1902. It was located in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The company grew to be one of the most important retailer in America. Penny had a major impact on American retailing. Merchants in the19th century did not commonly stand behind their merchandise. Penney called his store, the Golden Rule Store to emphasize his approach to retailing. He offered innovations such as money-back returns, standardized pricing, high quality merchandise, and friendly customer service. These were approached that were not very common at the time. Penney began with stores, but eventually began catalog sales, competing with Montgomery Ward and Sears. Penny now offers American consumers three different shopping channels (stores, catalogs, and internet channels). JC Penney in 2003 operated 1,050 JCPenney department stores in all the U.S. states (except Hawaii) and in Puerto Rico. In addition Penney operates 50 Renner department stores in Brazil. JCPenney stores sell fashion at value prices. The company targets consumers in the middle of the American population (household incomes of $30,000 to $80,000 a year). Sales totaled $15 billion in 2003. JCPenney department stores are primarily situated in regional malls which is where most Americans now shop for clothing. JC Penney is also America’s largest direct merchant of general merchandise. Its catalog-ordering network is the largest in the United States, handling 35 million telephone calls a year. Direct’s four state-of-the-art logistics centers process more than 33 million orders a year. JC Penney Direct publishes and distributes 384 million catalogs annually. They include 94 catalog titles serving distinct consumer groups. Catalog sales (including Internet sales) totaled $2.6 billion in 2003. The company publishes 94 catalog
titles each year, including the Fall/Winter big book.
JC Penny added a new channel in 1998-- JCPenney.com. The JC Penney Internet store is one of the largest apparel and home furnishings retail sites on the Internet. The site has the highest rate (10 percent) of converting site visitors into buyers. It has grown from annual sales of $15 million in 1998 to more than $600 million in 2003. The Company anticipates that the online store will top $1 billion in sales in the next few years.
JC Penney was founded by James Cash Penney. He called his first stores Golden Rule Store. He opened the first one Kemmerer, Wyoming (1902). TCompetitors began copying the name. Penny could not very well trade mark the Golden Rule. So he incorporated J.C. Penny (1913). We still see Golden Rule stoes into the 1920s. We are not sure if they were connected with POenny's, but the advertising rather looks like Penny's ads. A good example is a Golden Rule store in Idaho (1922). His company grew to be one of the most important retailer in America.
Penny had a major impact on American retailing. Merchants in the 19th century did not commonly stand behind their merchandise. Penney called his store, the Golden Rule Store to emphasize his approach to retailing. He offered innovations such as money-back returns, standardized pricing, high quality merchandise, and friendly customer service. These were approached that were not very common at the time.
Penney began with stores, but eventually began catalog sales, competing with Montgomery Ward and Sears.
Penny now offers American consumers three different shopping channels (stores, catalogs, and internet channels). JC Penney in 2003 operated 1,050 JCPenney department stores in all the U.S. states (except Hawaii) and in Puerto Rico. In addition Penney operates 50 Renner department stores in Brazil. JCPenney stores sell fashion at value prices. The company targets consumers in the middle of the American population (household incomes of $30,000 to $80,000 a year). Sales totaled $15 billion in 2003. JCPenney department stores are primarily situated in regional malls which is where most Americans now shop for clothing. JC Penney is also America’s largest direct merchant of general merchandise. Its catalog-ordering network is the largest in the United States, handling 35 million telephone calls a year. Direct’s four state-of-the-art logistics centers process more than 33 million orders a year. JC Penney Direct publishes and distributes 384 million catalogs annually. They include 94 catalog titles serving distinct consumer groups. Catalog sales (including Internet sales) totaled $2.6 billion in 2003. The company publishes 94 catalog titles each year, including the Fall/Winter big book.
JC Penny added a new channel in 1998-- JCPenney.com. The JC Penney Internet store is one of the largest apparel and home furnishings retail sites on the Internet. The site has the highest rate (10 percent) of converting site visitors into buyers. It has grown from annual sales of $15 million in 1998 to more than $600 million in 2003. The Company anticipates that the online store will top $1 billion in sales in the next few years.
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