What is JCPenney?
JCPenney is a large retail and department store offering various products at mid-range prices. Products range from clothes to shoes, home accessories to hardware items, among various others. The company is based in Plano, Texas, USA but has over 1000 stores across the 50 states of the US, and Puerto Rico. Today, most of its stores are part of big malls in the suburban areas of the US. But they also have stores located in downtown areas and places where foot traffic is heavy.

The JC Penney Company actually started out as the “JCP Store” back in 1902. It was then when James Cash Penny partnered with Thomas Callahan and Guy Johnson to open a retail store in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The trio opened two more stores afterwards, but by the year 1907, James Cash Penny became the stores’ sole owner. In its early years, the JCP store catered to the families of farmers and miners with products ranging from clothes, shoes, and fabric among others. Ten years after the first store opened, Penney already had 34 stores in different areas across the Rocky Mountain states. By the year 1917, William Henry McManus joined the company as co-founder. In the same year the company became the J.C. Penney Company, Inc. By the year 1924, the company already had 500 stores across the United States.

JC Penney as a company continuously grew over the years with the opening of new stores and through acquisition of other companies. One such acquisition was the “Crescent Corset Company” in 1920. Another acquired company is Thrift Drug, which became part of JC Penney in 1969. There were several acquisitions along the way, with JC Penney now standing tall with more than 1000 stores across the US and Puerto Rico. But aside from its retail stores, JC Penney also ventured into the growing internet marketing business. By 1998, JCPenney became an online retailer of various items and merchandise.