While creating an entry about the opening of James Cash Penney’s first store for our This Month in Business History guide, I found two articles from Chronicling America* about Penney himself that were just too good to not use in some way.
For some background, James Cash Penney was born in Missouri in 1875 and moved around before settling in Kemmerer, Wyoming. On April 14, 1902, he opened his own location within the Golden Rule Stores, a small western chain. Penney later went on to buy out the other owners of Golden Rule Stores. This was the beginning of the company that became JCPenney.
However, those quick facts don’t say much about Penney the man, which is where the two articles can help. Images of a younger Penney hint at him being one of those striving young men of the turn of the century America. A January 28, 1923 Birmingham Age-Herald article bolsters that image by providing a peek at his early years:
“Every available instant he studied, learning where materials came from, how they were made, the different weaves of cloths, the processes of tanning leather. The store might end its long day at eight in the evening but Penney’s brain only ceased pondering and planning when he fell asleep. He watched the customers closely, saw the treatment which pleased or which irritated them, and jotted down the observations in his mental notebook for use when necessary.”
A few decades later, a piece in the Sidney Herald, from 1959, showed that Penney’s energy never really changed:
“Perhaps no living person knows more of his fellow Americans than James Cash Penney, founder of the 1,700 store J. C. Penney chain. He founded his first store in the mining town of Kemmerer, Wyo., in 1902, seems to remember every customer he has ever waited on, and every Penney associate he has ever met. At 84, he not only puts in long days at his New York office at a pace that wears out associates two generations younger, but he travels more than 50,000 miles a year through the length and breadth of the retailing organization that indelibly bears the mark of his personality and beliefs.”
The article went on to add more about his activities even after he retired:
“Now a member of the firm’s board of directors, he was chairman until he stepped down at 83. During 1958 he attended 62 store openings in 22 states, gave 104 major addresses in 23 states, participated in 27 major radio and TV programs, clocked 57,000 miles of traveling during 209 days out of his New York office.”
The article shows that Penney continued to be involved even after he relinquished active leadership. He was made honorary Chairman of the Board and continued to be interested in the company he founded until he died on February 12, 1971.
* The Chronicling America Historic American Newspapers online collection is a product of the National Digital Newspaper Program and jointly sponsored by the Library and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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