J.C. Penney

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This article is about the department store. For the founder, see J. C. Penney.

J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc (NYSE: [JCP]; most commonly known today by the name JCPenney or simply Penney's) is a mid-range chain of American department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The company operates 1,050 stores in all the U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Until 2004, J.C. Penney also operated Eckerd Drugs and fifty department stores in Central and South America.

The company competes on an average price level on par with Sears. However, the company competes below Belk, Dillard's, Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue.

History

J.C. Penney was founded in 1902 by James Cash Penney and William Henry McManus. The original name for the store that started J.C. Penney in the dry goods business was the "Golden Rule Store", but was changed to J.C. Penney in 1913, when Penney accepted a majority ownership of the chain, William McManus still being a partner. The mother store is located in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

In 1998, J.C. Penney launched its third channel for shopping convenience. Its Internet store has grown into one of the largest apparel and home furnishings retail sites on the Internet. Among its general merchandise peers, the online store has the highest rate (10.1%) of converting site visitors into buyers. In 2005, J.C. Penney's e-commerce storefront exceeded the one billion dollar revenue mark for the first time.

J.C. Penney's biggest store in the world is located at the Plaza Las Americas mall in Puerto Rico.

Today, most J.C. Penney stores are located in suburban shopping malls. Previously, most stores were located in downtown areas. As shopping malls became more popular in the latter half of the 20th century, J.C. Penney relocated its stores to shopping malls. However, in recent years, the chain has been following a retailing trend in opening some standalone locations.

Environmental impact

The exterior of a typical J.C. Penney department store in the Aventura Mall in Aventura, Florida.

J.C. Penney is a leading direct marketer with its collection of catalogues that target a variety of demographics. The company has its own catalogue paper policy that paper fibers should not be obtained from old growth forests. Currently, the official company page regarding the environmental impact of their catalogues states that they are "committed to incorporating 10 percent post-consumer waste (PCW) recycled content into its catalogs as rapidly as possible"; there is, however, a shortage of PCW material in the marketplace. [link]

The company is a leading Internet retailer and has undergone significant institutional changes to compete in the ever changing retail landscape. Increased competition from big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Target have forced J.C. Penney to focus on private brands that accounted for forty percent of revenue in 2005. It has streamlined its catalog and distribution while undergoing significant renovation improvements at store level.

External links

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