what year did john cash penney want to be a lawyer

by Aric Hill IV 9 min read

Who was James Cash Penney and what did he do?

"In the midst of failure to believe, I was being helped back to believing." James Cash Penney (yes, that was his full name) learned about faith and business from his father, who served as the pastor of a small Primitive Baptist church in Hamilton, Missouri, and struggled to make a living off the family farm.

How long did JC Penney run his company?

JC Penney ran his company for more than four decades. American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. Even so, Penney thought his stores could have done better as the Depression ground on.

Who is the founder of Penney’s?

In 1898, Penney went to work for Thomas Callahan and Guy Johnson, who owned dry goods stores called Golden Rule stores in Colorado and Wyoming. Callahan liked Penney’s honesty and strong work ethic.

What was Penney’s first job?

Penney’s first job was clerking in a general store for a salary of $2.27 per month. For medical reasons he moved to Colorado in 1897 and was soon hired by local dry-goods merchants Guy Johnson and T.M. Callahan.

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Did James Cash Penney go to college?

Penney graduated from Hamilton High School in 1893 but did not have the money for higher education. With the aid of his father he secured a position as a clerk in a local dry goods and clothing store.

What was JCPenney Golden Rule?

J.C. Penney was founded on the Golden Rule which pretty much means treat your customer like you'd want to be treated.

How old was James Cash Penney when he died?

95 years (1875–1971)James Cash Penney / Age at death

Is JC Penny 120 years old?

JCPenney revealed its new “Shopping is Back!” integrated brand campaign in conjunction with the company's 120th birthday. The campaign includes a new look in stores and online, special sales promotions, plus extra bonus rewards for reward members.

What year did J.C. Penney's start?

April 14, 1902, Kemmerer, WYJCPenney / FoundedOn April 14, 1902, founder Penney and two partners opened the Golden Rule dry-goods store in the small town of Kemmerer, Wyoming. During the following two years they opened stores in two other Wyoming frontier towns.

Who is the owner of J.C. Penney?

Simon Property GroupPenneyOpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is an American department store chain operating 669 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico....JCPenney.JCPenney store at Aventura Mall in 2006Total equityUS$829 million (2019)OwnersSimon Property Group, Brookfield Asset Management20 more rows

Is JCPenney still alive?

A small cardboard display at the JCPenney Eastpoint Mall store is shown on December 2, 2020. Battered and bruised, and with less stock on its shelves than in previous years, JCPenney is still alive. The recent purchase also provides the retail firm with $1.5 billion in much-needed funds.

Where is JCPenney buried?

Woodlawn Cemetery • Crematory • Conservancy, New York, NYJames Cash Penney / Place of burialWoodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and a designated National Historic Landmark. Located south of Woodlawn Heights, Bronx, New York City, it has the character of a rural cemetery. Wikipedia

How many JCPenney stores are left?

We have over 650 department stores across the United States, and in each one you'll find savings on a wide selection of everyday essential for your whole family: clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories, and more.

Where was the first JCPenney store?

Kemmerer, WYJCPenney / Place foundedKemmerer is the largest city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States, with a population was 2,656 at the 2010 census. Wikipedia

When did JCPenney change their logo?

In May 2013, jcpenney quietly introduced a new logo with the company name (still in Gotham) in lowercase. It was used alongside the 2012 logo in advertising. This logo was officially dropped in September that year due to an extremely negative response from customers, bringing back the 2008 logo.

Why did JCPenney fail?

The company was saddled with debt and spent the last decade with a continual turnover in CEOs, new store designs that couldn't spark interest, initiatives and rebrands that didn't resonate with customers. The once-beloved retailer has been unprofitable since 2010 with net losses of $4.5 billion.

What did the Golden Rule sell?

Golden rule selling is focused on the customer and his needs, rather than being focused on the salesperson's desire to earn a commission.

What did the Golden Rule store sell?

After a career full of turbulence, James became manager of a Golden Rule store in Evanston, Wyoming. The stores traded in dry goods — grain, flour, beans; anything that wouldn't spoil. After a few years of success, Penney was offered his own store in Kemmerer, Wyoming, and took his shot.

Why was J.C. Penney so successful?

Penney's store was successful because his customers liked the merchandise and good service. Within a year, Penney was managing two more stores. Soon, he had a one-third ownership in three stores in Wyoming.

What did James Cash Penney do?

J.C. Penney, in full James Cash Penney, (born Sept. 16, 1875, Hamilton, Mo., U.S.—died Feb. 12, 1971, New York, N.Y.), merchant who established one of the largest chains of department stores in the United States.

Who was James Cash Penney's father?

His father, the Reverend James Cash Penney, Sr., served as an unpaid preacher for a fundamentalist sect known as Primitive Baptists and farmed to earn a living. His mother, Mary Frances Paxton Penney, was a Kentuckian.

When did Penney buy Golden Rule?

In 1903 he acquired one-third interest in another Golden Rule store, and a year later he supervised a third store in which he was sold a one-third interest. In 1907 Penney bought the other two-thirds interest in these three Golden Rule stores.

What did the chance to share in ownership do to the idea of someday having a chain of stores of his own?

The chance to share in ownership increased his ambition, excited his imagination, and gave him the idea of someday having a chain of stores of his own based on the same principle of partner-owners who shared in the profits. He lived frugally in an attic room over the store at first.

Where was Penney's headquarters?

The headquarters for the 48-store chain moved to New York City in 1914. Penney continued the expansion and in 1924 opened the 500th store in his hometown of Hamilton, Missouri. The company continued to operate as a partnership until 1927, when there were over 1, 000 stores, necessitating full incorporation.

Who was the first merchant to work in the Golden Rule?

A promising new opportunity came when Penney was employed by a Longmont, Colorado, merchant, T. M. Callahan, to work in Callahan's first store in his small Golden Rule Mercantile Company chain. In March 1899 Callahan sent the young man to work at his Evanston, Wyoming, store at a salary of $50 a month. Soon thereafter, on August 24, 1899, he ...

Where was James Cash Penney's first store?

History of James Cash Penney’s first store. Website for the city of Kemmerer, Wyoming. Accessed March 30, 2011 at http://kemmerer.org/jcpenney

Who was James Penney's father?

His father, James Cash Penney Sr., was a minister and civic leader who ran unsuccessfully for Congress on a populist ticket in 1894.

Where did Penney's coal mines move to?

Five years later, it moved to New York City. After his death, the company settled in suburban Dallas. But in 1902, Wyoming had provided exactly what young Penney needed to found a chain that has survived, as of 2011, for 109 years – a tiny coal-mining town where the people wanted to buy what he had to sell.

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Origins

Early career

  • J.C. Penney's second Golden Rule store in Kemmerer, Wyo., about. 1908. In 1913, he replaced the Golden Rule name with his own. Wyoming Tales and Trails.Penney first stopped in Longmont, Colo., where he opened a butcher shop in 1898. His venture depended on purchases by a local hotel. When the straitlaced Penney refused to give liquor to the hotel c...
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Later career

  • Three years later, on April 14, 1902, they made him a one-third partner in their new store in Kemmerer, Wyo. on the Oregon Short Line Railroad, a subsidiary of the Union Pacific first constructed in 1882 from Granger, Wyo. on the UP line northwest to Montpelier, Idaho. The town had sprung up seemingly overnight after coal was discovered in 1897, and had 1,000 residents b…
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Business

  • Kemmerer, Wyo. about 1908. Wyoming Tales and Trails.Penney put up $2,000 for his share of the store, an investment that paid off handsomely. Golden Rule sold what mining families needed, and it sold it affordably. In 1902, its first year, the store cleared $8,000 on sales of more than $28,000. It also laid the foundation of a retail empire. The ambitious Penney began to expand, first within …
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Operations

  • Penneys business philosophy was simple find good employees, train them well, and sell quality goods at a small markup in order to keep prices down. The tactic worked. By 1917, the chain had nearly 200 stores; by 1928, there were more than 1,000. Eventually, the number exceeded 2,000 as the store found niches in Main Streets across America. Today, the company operates fewer stor…
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Early years

  • Penney grew up in an era in America when agriculture was giving way to industrialization, and he would become part of the movement that saw millions leave farming for urban occupations. His father, James Cash Penney Sr., was a minister and civic leader who ran unsuccessfully for Congress on a populist ticket in 1894. But the elder Penney also ran a 390-acre farm where the f…
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Other activities

  • Outside his business, his interests mirrored his upbringing religion, education, and agriculture. He built a retirement home for ministers in Florida, he underwrote vocational guidance programs on the radio, and he raised purebred cattle on his two farms, one in Missouri, the other in New York. He took out bank loans to finance his philanthropy, using company stock as collateral.
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Cost

  • That decision cost him dearly when the Depression struck. Much of the collateral was lost. In addition, Penney was personally liable when a Florida bank, where he served as board chairman, failed in 1930; he paid several million dollars to cover losses by bank depositors. As his own financial situation worsened, he was forced to sell one of his homes. It took years to rebuild his f…
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Later years

  • However, his company fared better during the Depression, thanks in part to its conservative fiscal policies. The company had sizeable cash reserves and no long-term debt. Meanwhile, the chains practice of providing quality at affordable price helped to bring in cash-strapped customers.
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Criticisms

  • JC Penney ran his company for more than four decades. American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.Even so, Penney thought his stores could have done better as the Depression ground on. His column in the May 1932 edition of the company newsletter chastised managers for failing to sell goods that had languished on store shelves for a year or longer. He suggested more pers…
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Legacy

  • Penneys influence stemmed in part from his longevity. Typically, the tenure of a top corporate official is short; Penney was at the top of his company for more than four decades. He began his career in an era when cars were still rare on American streets, and ran the company through three wars and the Great Depression before stepping down as chairman in 1958. He continued to serv…
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