J.C. Penney
From Free net encyclopedia
- This article is about the store. For the founder see J. C. Penney.
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. Template:Nyse (most commonly known today by the name "JCPenney" or simply "Penney's") is a nationwide department store chain based in Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The company operates 1,050 stores in all the U.S. states (except Hawaii) and in Puerto Rico. They also operates 50 Renner department stores in Brazil. J.C. Penney is also an e-commerce retailer online.
The target customers fall into the middle of the American population. They have a family household income ranging from $30,000 to $80,000 a year. Sales totaled $15 billion in 2003.
History
The chain was founded in 1902 by James Cash Penney and William Henry McManus. The original name for the store was the "Golden Rule Store" (Penney was the son of a Southern Baptist minister, and believed that the stores should operate under the Golden Rule of the Bible), but was changed to J. C. Penney in 1912. 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.
J.C. Penney's biggest store in the world is located in the Plaza Las Americas mall in Puerto Rico.
Today, most J.C. Penney stores are located in 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
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. [1]
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 Penney's to focus on private brands.It has streamlined its catalog and distribution while undergoing significant renovation improvements at store level. The chain has had a long standing rivalry with Sears.