JCPenney

J.C. Penney, in full J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc., formerly J.C. Penney Stores Company (191324) and J.C. Penney Co. (192468), American retail company, founded in 1902 by James Cash Penney and today engaged in marketing apparel, home furnishings, jewelry, cosmetics, and cookware. In the early 21st century the company operated more than 800 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. It is a subsidiary of J.C. Penney Company, Inc., and its headquarters are in Plano, Texas.On April 14, 1902, founder Penney and two partners opened the Golden Rule dry-goods store in the small town of Kemmerer, Wyoming. During the following two years they opened stores in two other Wyoming frontier towns. In 1907 Penney bought out his original partners and took on new ones, beginning with Earl Corder Sams (president of the company from 1914 to 1946). When the firm was incorporated on January 17, 1913, as the J.C. Penney Stores Company, there were 34 stores in the American West. The following year the companys headquarters were moved to New York City. In 1927 J.C. Penney Co. became a publicly traded corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and by 1929 it had increased the number of its stores to 1,392.