Posted on 09/15/2023 5:54:27 PM PDT by Ozguy1945
James Cash Penney’s words are the embodiment of community minded free enterprise at its best.
Penney was born in Hamilton, Missouri, on September 16, 1875. In 1902, he invested $2,000 with the owners of the Golden Rule chain of stores in a one-third partnership in a new Golden Rule store in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Wikipedia reports: "He participated in opening two more stores, and when Callahan and Johnson dissolved their partnership in 1907 he purchased full interest in all three stores. By 1912, there were 34 stores in the Rocky Mountain States. In 1913, he moved the company to the Kearns Building in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The company was incorporated under the new name, J. C. Penney Company. In 1916, he began to expand the chain east of the Mississippi and during the 1920s, the Penney company expanded nationwide, with 120 stores in 1920 (mostly still in the west). By 1924, Penney reported income of more than $1 million annually."
I think it is easy to see from Kenney's own words that The Golden Rule was something he believed in:
“A merchant who approaches business with the idea of serving the public well has nothing to fear from the competition.”
“I believe a man is better anchored who has a belief in the Supreme Being.”
“The greatest teacher I know is the job itself.”
“We get real results only in proportion to the real values we give.”
Do as you would be done by.
A discipline that can keep us free.
(Excerpt) Read more at freedom-demokrasi-and-civilised-humanity.com ...
If only he could see us now.
In a university accounting course the professor told us that the “C” in JC Penneys stood for Cash. Like that was the guy’s middle name.
So I don’t know if his parents were related to someone with surname of “Cash”. We just sat there and listened.
wrong,,it was Copper
Fun Facts:
James C. Penney must have already been quite wealthy when he invested in his first small chain of stores.
Apparently, $2000. in year 1902 would be equal to a staggering sum of $71,401,40.00 today!
James father, James Sr. was a strict disciplinarian who made his son start paying for his own clothing once he reached 8 years of age.
There is a sepia tinted photo of James Jr. at age 27.
He vaguely resembles actor Shia LeBeouf.
According to Wikipedia, his father’s name was James Cash Penney, so it was a family name. Maybe someone thought it was funny because of the surname. His father was a farmer and preacher who made his son buy his own clothes when he reached the age of 8.
A sibling with a college degree in fashion merchandising and excellent jobs in her working life, said that JCP, Wards and Sears catalogs were the beginning of Amazon and other stores where we ordered what we need to wear, cook, cook with and to replace what we had.
The summer before my senior year in college, I got to live with my grandmother, a widow who used all 3 of the above stores, her garden and local grocery with delivery and The Schwan’s Home Delivery, and her garden to feed and cloth her family.
They had name recognition, experience in mass merchandising and delivery. If they'd embraced the dot.com world they might still be in business.
Penny’s was one of, if the first, companies to go woke. They started the homosexual ads. That didn’t kill them, but hurt them very badly.
https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/06/jc-penney-comes-out-with-another-gay-friendly-ad
This wasn’t normal in 2012.
In my high school we had an industrial arts teacher named Sterling Nicholls. His wife was a substitute teacher named Penny.
Too bad the man’s entire legacy was driven into the ground when the company hired Ellen DeGenerate for in-your-face “advertising”.
This is what happens when communists infiltrate an organization and take control from the inside.
They must’ve endured a good amount of teasing. :)
Yep- we stopped buyign anythign from them when they ran their first gay friendly ads- I don’t think they ever recovered from that boondoggle- back then people didn’t put up with that crap- and they banded together to boycott en mass- today people can’t be bothered to be inconvenienced sadly- so the big name companies going woke get away with it
“Penny’s was one of, if the first, companies to go woke. “
Thank you for this info.
Would Penney be turning in his Woodland Cemetery grave?
I note that subsequent to going woke the company has looked like going broke.
“Sears and Penny’s blew it.
They had name recognition, experience in mass merchandising and delivery. If they’d embraced the dot.com world they might still be in business.”
The sad or stupid decisions in not embracing the dot.com world are probably text book lessons in how to destroy great businesses by refusing to adapt to big changes in the market place and country.
My mother and sister loved to shop. Their husbands, my Dad and BIL hated shopping and ordered by phone or had us order clothes for them. My Dad liked JC Penny clothing and my BIL liked Sears for professional and regular clothing.
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