J.C. Penney Background
J.C. Penney was originally founded in 1902 by James Cash Penney in Kemmerer, Wyoming, where it sold clothing to frontier miners, farmers, and their families.6 Originally, Penney called his store the Golden Rule because he believed in treating others the way he himself would want to be treated. From this small beginning, the firm rose to become the second largest retail chain in the world, following Sears. At its height, there were 2,053 Penney stores across the country, down to about 1,100 in 2012.
A quote from a 1908 advertisement gives a glimpse of the firm’s original customer value proposition:
We are here to stay; we like the country—its people; we believe in selling you good dependable goods on a Small Margin of ...
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