Research Paper

Isabella Martinez

Mr. Skipper

Encounters 7

Feb. 19, 2024

A Man of Many Penneys

Introduction

Stores change all the time for their customers so that they can stay in business.

However some stores don't like change. The Golden Rule is a store and an example of not wanting change. Yet one man would make the impossible possible. He changed Golden Rule and many other stores. James was a man who could be described as many words due to his positive impacts on the world. He started with a humble beginning, but he flipped his own life around in a positive way by being a hard worker from a young age. James’ store’s were always there in small towns and had most of what people could need. But his remembrance will impact stores all around forever because he was an inspiration to many store owners. He was also an amazing retail business owner in his lifetime. He not only changed the retail game but he also changed lives and expectations.

Early Life

James Cash Penney was born into a house of poverty and poor parents and rose from it to greatness. On Sept 16, 1875, in Caldwell County, Missouri, James Cash Penney was born to his “less-than-prosperous” (Hoover) baptist, farmer, father and his “distinguished Southern family” mother (Reese). James was also the seventh of twelve children and with so many kids to take care of the family's financial problems only worsened. At age eight James was attending school but also working. Just like his father he was a farmer and raised livestock to pay for his clothing because “money was scarce” (Reese). James’s father also believed with him working, James could learn the value of money. However, after a complaint from the neighbors, James was forced to sell his way of helping. Nevertheless, this would not be the last time James tried to earn money for his financial issues. James' goal for the future was to become a lawyer but because he had to help his family, he never went back to school after his father passed in the year 1871. That's why when James graduated high school he resumed work that his father helped him get “six weeks before he died” (Reese). There, James stayed as the store clerk for a place called J. M. Hale and Brothers Dry Goods, the job his father helped him obtain before his death. A while later in James' life, he was advised by his doctor to move somewhere else because his health was at risk and being old already wasn't looking good for his chances of living. Once James moved to the West, he started working at a place called Golden Rule. Four years later, James Cash Penney was offered the deal that would change his life and James took it (Reese).

Beginning of career 

James may have started his career with a simple job to sustain his family but once at Golden Rule, it had a positive significant impact and created his future. While his father was still alive he taught James the value of money and how to work. James’ father also helped him get his first retail job which is what led to his success. “Jim will make it. I like the way he has started out” (Hoover).  These were among the last words spoken by James' father. This is what inspired James most to keep going and to continue working. After his father passed and moving to the west, James entered the job that would create his future fortune. Golden Rule was a place where they sold dry goods, notions, shoes, and clothing “at fair prices'' (Hoover). Golden Rule was owned by the Callahans, fellow Missourians, and was one of the most successful stores in the town, the net worth being  $50,000. When James found out about their good reputation and work ethic, he got himself hired as a part-time sales clerk while the full-time worker was out sick. While he worked part-time, he worked hard and did whatever it took to be an amazing outstanding salesman. After the full-time employee came back, James was still kept as an employee and was told that he may have a chance like all the other employees to get an offer to start his own Golden Rule store. Once he started, there was no stopping with his long hours of hard work that led him to so much success. However, in the future, a competitor of his would try to stop him by going to the city and asking them to start laws to stop James' success. This created the fear of a “death-sentence chain-store bill” (J. C. Penney, Entrepreneur). Still, this did not stop James and was just another thing to overcome for the bill never passed.

Significant Accomplishments

James did everything he could to be the main store people would go to in the little town he was settled in. To obtain success, James made his own set of rules for his stores which is what kept him doing better than other people and made him famous in the retailing business. His first rule was that stores were open every day which was “a rarity in the early 1900s” (J. C. Penney, Entrepreneur). Another rule was that he bought all his products in “bulk” directly from the manufacturers (J. C. Penney, Entrepreneur). Additionally, he followed the original owner´s example and trained managers who would open new stores which led to “all Penney ́s employees participating in profit sharing” (J. C. Penney, Entrepreneur). Finally, he sold everything for a “fixed price” and only accepted cash (J. C. Penney, Entrepreneur). He earned “nearly $29,000” in less than nine months with no prior knowledge of owning a single store. The amount of money James made in those nine months is astonishing to think about because he sold only “clothes, bedding, and draperies, hardware, appliances, and many other products” (J. C. Penney, Entrepreneur). Unlike other places, he did not sell produce. At first, the other store owners didn't think that his selling would be a problem. But then, people realized that James was growing too successful and too powerful, so they decided to complain to the city. The competitors brought up his store hours and said that there should be rules in place to stop these long hours. For this reason, in 1940 a bill that would be “a death sentence” to business owners was introduced and it scared store owners because of what would happen if the bill was passed (J. C. Penney, Entrepreneur). However, the bill did not pass and business owners were relieved. James and his business still had other obstacles to overcome such as the Great Depression that was ongoing throughout this time. James, although he “fared relatively well during the Great Depression”, still suffered immensely like everyone else (Hoover).

Impact on the World

The world is a place of many changes happening at once. Even during the 1900s, things were changing. Such as the changes stores were making that would keep impacting till today and for even longer. These stores would include JCPenney because of the things James did while working and running his store. It's  safe to say his stores made a big impact on the dry goods industry and the retail business in general. James also shaped the industry's future stores. Wal-Mart is now the world’s largest corporation. Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart kept a sign on his desk quoting JCPenney - “Serve the public…to its ultimate satisfaction” - as a reminder of why he's in the retail business. (Mcinnis). James has also changed the whole of the United States in many different ways. From building schools and libraries in his hometown, making many speeches, talking on television and radio shows, and writing books, James did a lot to impact the world while alive. Because of his activeness in communities, “he became a national celebrity” and never stopped his work until death (Hoover). 

Lessons Learned From Their Life

James Cash Penny was the creator of JCPenney. He was an amazing, hard working, humble, and visionary man. He was from a poor,struggling family but ended up rich by becoming a very well known, famous store owner. He flipped his whole life around easily with hard work and a lot of persistence. This is something that people can live up to because of his amazing success during his time. Additionally he is also still a good role model for future entrepreneurs that know what they want till this day. His hardworking personality and success is impressive and should be the common goal for everyone. He died February 12, 1971 after 69 years of creating and running JCPenney. He died working hard and will be known as a good person who worked for what he wanted till the end of his life. He was an inspiration for many and will keep being one of the people who changed retail. His memory and stores will live on forever no matter what happens. James will never be forgotten because of all the amazing things he did for the retail business and all the good deeds he did in the world to help others outside of his stores.

Work Cited

The Antiplanner. “J.C. Penney, Entrepreneur.” The Antiplanner, 19 Nov 2008, ti.org/antiplanner/?p=570.

Hoover, Gary. “J. C. Penney, the Man: A Life of Perpetual Sharing.” Archbridge Institute, American Originals, 7 Dec. 2017, www.archbridgeinstitute.org/j-c-penney-the-man-a-life-of-perpetual-sharing/.

Mcinnis, Doug. “James Cash Penney:From Clerk to Chain-store Tycoon.” WyoHistory.Org, 14 Nov 2014, www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/james-cash-penney-clerk-chain-store-tycoon.

Reese, Alice Anna, and Carlynn Trout. “ J. C. Penney.” Historic Missourians, State Historical Society of Missouri, historicmissourians.shsmo.org/j-c-penney/.