History Of JC Penney's Golden Rule

The Golden Rule – the concept of treating others the way we would like to be treated, is what JC Penney was built on. This company roots are traced back to a small Wyoming coal mining town. James Cash Penney founder, born in 1875 in Hamilton, MO, with two partners created the world’s largest department store chain April 14, 1902. In the beginning of his career, James Cash Penney moved from Missouri to Longmont, Colo., because of health reason in 1875. This is where he opened a butcher shop in 1898 and it failed because he didn’t want to give liquor to a hotel cook for a trade. James then became a store clerk at the local Golden Rule Store. This store was a small dry goods chain that carried work clothes, fabric, and sewing supplies. The owner saw James’s work ethic and made him the manager of their Evanston, Wyoming store in 1899. On April 14, 1902,

Moving corporate headquarters to just outside Dallas, JC Penney was able to cut $60 million from its annual budget although about 1,250 New Yorkers lost their jobs. JC Penney divided the companies merchandising groups into four major divisions: women’s, men’s children’s, and home and leisure. By the end of 1986, 1,482 stores was about to undergo a major change. In 1987, the sale of home electronics, hard sporting goods, and photo equipment in its stores was discontinued. This space was made available to focus on the women’s apparel. JC Penney also began to focus on freestanding furniture stores, called Portfolio, on an experimental basis. The company also took time to focus on their employees, by giving them a stock ownership plan (LESOP) in 1988. Also with this change, the company had benefited from its space. Shoppers was more focused on the clothes and accessories more than washing machines and paint. Earnings for JC Penney increased from this result rising from $4.11 per share in 1987 to $5.92 in 1988 from total sales of $14.8