The company for several years departed from its soft goods roots by adding hard goods, appliances, and auto centers. It was restored in the late 1980s. Finally, as she told a reporter, God "answered my prayer, for one night I had a dream, and in that dream a big black man appeared to me and told me what to mix up for my hair. It shifted from its small-town Western base into a major national retailer as an anchor in malls from coast to coast. Imparts a rich, healthy lustre. After she had been in Indianapolis for some time and was already a wealthy woman, she went one afternoon to the Isis Movie Theater and gave the ticket seller a dime, standard admission at the time. 4. So are we writing about him simply because he was a Christian who happened to be rich and famous? U.S.A. In 1971, when James Cash Penney died at age ninety-five, the annual sales of the J. C. Penney company were $16 billion, second only among non-food retailers to then giant Sears, Roebuck. Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/penney-james-cash. The city was served by eight major railway systems and was home to a substantial African-American community. Penney had hoped to attend college when he graduated from high school in 1893, but his parents could not afford to send him. The maps and images appear twice: in a low-resolution version with associated questions and alone in a larger, high-resolution version. What do you think he is trying to convey to the viewer? This was his parents' way of teaching him the value of money and self-reliance. All rights reserved. Incorpor, J. F. Drake State Technical College: Narrative Description, J. F. Drake State Technical College: Tabular Data, J. J. Thomson, the Discovery of the Electron, and the Study of Atomic Structure, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College: Narrative Description, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College: Tabular Data, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/penney-james-cash. Report of the Thirteenth Annual Convention of the National Negro Business League, Chicago, IL, August 21-23, 1912, William H. Davis, Official Stenographer, Washington, D.C., 154-55. By age eight James Penney was forced to earn money to buy his own clothes. Complexion and Toilet Soap--A preservative of beauty--mild and safe for the most tender skin. The people appreciate our efforts as is evidenced in ours being the Busiest Store in this locality. Penney opened the Kemmerer store on April 14, 1902. 3. At the age of twenty-nine, J. C. Penney was well on to his way to becoming a wealthy man. With a child, it was too small, and Penney bought this two-storey house in 1904. The next year, Jim earned $200, and $300 in his third yeara luxurious $25 per month. Uncategorized. He proposed that a smaller town like Kemmerer, Wyoming, would be better. Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. In fact, his first store was called The Golden Rule. He folded the inventory. The lesson was edited by the Teaching with Historic Places staff. Copyright by Archbridge Institute. He even helped many of his store managers become part owners of new stores. . It took on large amounts of debt. Fortunemagazine ran full stories on the company in the September 1950, July 1967, and March 1, 2016 issues. She began selling her homemade products door-to-door in 1905 in Denver, Colorado. Callahan and Johnson offered to loan him the balance of $1,500 in order to buy his one-third ($2,000) share of the $6,000 investment required, at 8% interest. C. Penney under The Golden Rule. By 1919 it was determined that all stores should go by the new common name of J. C. Penney. He did not pay for elaborate fixtures and displays. U.S.A. The cities in italics indicate places where J.C. Penney opened his early stores or headquartered his business. The business ultimately helped thousands of African-American women achieve financial success. The following activities will help students understand how hard work, ambition, confidence, a willingness to take risks, knowledge of potential markets, as well as lots of luck, contribute to success in establishing and operating a business. Public Company This makes a grand total of $63,049 made in my hair business in Indianapolis. Between 1920 and 1930, more than 1,250 new stores opened, most of them on Main Streets in small towns across America. 2. He arrived in Denver, then booming from mining on one side and farming on the other. He grew up in a stern, joyless family. Both were still on the job when they died: Walker at the relatively early age of 51, and Penney at 95. Businessman. Shortly after his son's birth, the elder Penney, who combined occupations of stock farmer, Primitive Baptist preacher, and politician, moved his family to town so that his children could attend school. New York: Garland Publishing, 1993. How would you describe this building? Over the next few years, young Penney worked on surrounding farms, raising pigs, trading horses, and growing watermelons. Schultz succeeded in turning a tiny regional operation into a national coffeehouse chain while Rousseau was a chemical engineer who designed the first commercial penicillin plant. Indispensable for bobbed hair and unsurpassed in the opinion of social leaders and well-groomed gentlemen. . . The stores net worth had risen from $500 to $50,000 in the ten years since its 1889 founding. 40, boulevard Haussmann (Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology). 3. The Salt Lake City store was for many years the most profitable. The company gradually entered larger cities. Standard 2C- The student understands how new cultural movements at different social levels affected American life.Era 7: The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930). The assumption was that business is secular, and service is religious. This was his parents' way of teaching him the value of money and self-reliance. It was not uncommon at that time for managers to earn $3050,000, ten to fifteen times the average American family wage. In 1927, A'Lelia Walker Robinson completed the Walker Building in memory of her mother. He felt he served the community better by keeping them from becoming indebted. He went to Salt Lake City, Utah, approximately 125 miles southwest of Kemmerer, where he established the headquarters for the growing chain and consolidated his buying and accounting operations. As Madam Walker described: "When we began to make $10 a day, he thought that was enough, thought I ought to be satisfied. Incorporated: 1923 The pay was $100 a month versus the $50 that Penney offered. In the midst of the Great Depression, one of America's leading businessmen sank into a personal depression of his own. But he was also pragmatic enough to open his store for half days on Sundays. A WORD ABOUT PRICES: Our reputation for good value giving is known throughout the West where are located 12 of our stores, each being a phenomenal business. James Cash Penney, Jr., was born September 16, 1875, near Hamilton, Missouri, to the Reverend James C. Penney and his wife, Fanny. Frequent national and regional conventions of managers were held, with Penney and other leaders speaking at every opportunity. Questions for Reading 2 There he also founded Foremost Dairies to try more scientific methods of dairy farming. Now in his fifties, James Cash Penney had already built an empire of dry goods stores, dedicated to following the Golden Rule as a basic commercial principle. Working in the Callahan store, Penney began to dream of operating his own chain of stores, based on the idea of having partner-owners who would share in all the profits. How did Penney indicate that following the Golden Rule would help business and benefit customers? Perhaps you envy the girl with irresistible beauty, whose skin is flawless and velvety, whose hair has a beautiful silky sheen, the girl who receives glances of undoubted admiration. It was lined with cafes, offices, and other thriving businesses. The building served as a center for the African-American community. Our aim is to sell you Reliable, Staple, Dependable Merchandise at a less price than any other house in the country. Penney also directed his stores to be closed on Sunday so employees could attend church. Within five years, Penney opened two more stores, then three more. Sears, Roebuck is in even rougher shape than Penneys, with sales declining rapidly. Web site: http://www.american, Mercantile Stores Company, Inc. Penney, who had passed on an applicant who would not work Sundays, wrote Sams to insure nothing was misunderstood, [Our man] must be a hustler, not afraid to work. He was soon promoted to first manthe top sales clerk. Perhaps most importantly, he carried merchandise that his customers wanted, ensuring a rapid inventory turnover. The business, called "The Golden Rule Store," gave him an exciting new commercial concept. The Center also includes a small museum with Walker memorabilia and is host to the annual Madame Walker Spirit Awards for Entrepreneurs. 3. Even in 1927, when the company ceased operating as a partnership and sold its stock publicly, managers were given stock in the company, and eventually all employees were included in profit-sharing plans. Why do you think both Walker and Penney were successful as business owners? Until the end of his life, he continued to go to his offices. At 17, she bore her only child, a daughter named Lelia. He was also one of the first entrepreneurs to use corporate profit sharing to encourage employees to have a stake in the company's success. You will get BIG VALUES for your money at this store. Over time he recovered, more energized than before. Penney, Fifty Years with the Golden Rule (New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1950) 55. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/J-C-Penney, City of Hamilton, Missouri - Biography of J.C. Penney, Missouri Legends - Biography of J. C. Penny, WyoHistory.org - James Cash Penney: From Clerk to Chain-store Tycoon, The State Historical Society of Missouri - Historic Missourians - Biography of J. C. Penney, Penney, James Cash - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). A contemporary of Madame Walker, Penney launched the first chain of department stores in the United States, commonly known as "Penney's." Today Americans visit over 1,000 "Penney's" or peruse the mail order and online catalogs to purchase various household goods and clothing. Detroit: The Gale Group, 1998, s.v. My talk to you this evening is to be very brief and very much to the point. ." After much debate, Jim convinced them to open the next store, his store, in Kemmerer, Wyoming, in the heart of a growing coal district. Omissions? In a 25-by-140 foot section of the first floor, Penney developed and refined the merchandising ideas that led to the growth of his successful chain of stores. 24. Company sales dropped precipitously, down about 30%, and profits became huge losses. Where was the first JCPenney? . "It takes two flints to make a fire." Louisa . ", The Daily Digest for Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. The couple attended church, and had their first child, a boy, in 1901. His faith would remain a personal thing most of his life. --J. C. Penney. Penney's father was a Baptist preacher and farmer whose strict discipline included making his son pay for his own clothing once he reached his late pre-teens. Beasley, Norman. 4. He died on February 12, 1971, at the age of 95, as the founder of the nation's second-largest department store behind Sears. The company also opened its own catalog business. See also: Chain Store, Mail-Order House, Retail Industry. Most of the quotes in the article come from a compilation of his writings entitledLines of A Layman: The Golden Rule in Everyday Living. 5. These two historic buildings--one large and imposing, the other modest--provide insight into the characters of two of America's most famous businesspeople. By the time she was five, Sarah had learned to carry water to field hands, drop cotton seed into plowed furrows, and, for a dollar a week, wash white people's clothes with strong lye soap, wooden sticks, and washboards. (513) 860-8000 She had survived a failed marriage, but Jim married the divorcee he loved even knowing others might not approve. It was written by Rita Koman, education consultant. JCPenney started in 1902 as a dry-goods store called the Golden Rule Store.