Sara Lopez

Mr. Skipper

Encounters 7

January 13, 2023

The Life-Long Journey of James Cash Penney

Introduction

“With hard work and effort, anyone can reach for the stars” is a famous saying many people know. An example of this saying would be JCPenney’s founder, James Cash Penney because his company reached such recognition because of his hard work and efforts. Not only that, but it was also because James Cash Penney was also fair with the business trades he made. During his whole life, he inspired many people and is still a person people look up to. Not only was he a good person, but also a good businessman. James Cash Penney created many stores that offer a small amount of everything, including male and female clothes, home decor and appliances, jewelry, shoes for any gender, a photography studio, and a hair salon, which you can find at most locations. That is why James Cash Penney has established the most convenient store to visit whenever and wherever you are.

The Early Life​ of James Cash Penney

James Cash Penney was one of the survivors of bad genes, which made it through adulthood. James Cash Penney was born on September 16, 1875, and was raised in Hamilton, Missouri; James Cash Penney St. and Mary Frances Paxton Penney were his parents. They had twelve children, including James Cash Penney. His siblings’ names are Herbert, Mittie, and Pearl. The whole family worked on a farm except the father, a Baptist. However, unfortunately for the family, only six of their children, including James Cash Penney, made it to adulthood. James Cash Penney went to school at an early age while also working at their family farm. He learned the value of money at the age of eight because of the low amount of money his family was making. Although he learned about the importance of money at eight years old, he got his first job after completing high school at Hamilton High School in 1893 (Reece). His first job was as a store clerk at J. M. Hale and Brothers dry goods, a Golden Rule store in Hamilton (“JC Penney”), even though he had always wanted to be a lawyer. His father, James Cash Penney St, died six weeks before James Cash Penney got his first job. His father’s last words were, “Jim will make it. I like how he has started” (Reece).

The Beginning of James Cash Penney’s Career

From a “clerk” to “co-owner” and then a “shop chain owner,” James Cash Penney’s journey ended up creating a “dominant national department store” (James Cash Penney and the Golden Rule). James Cash Penney’s father influenced his personality greatly because he got most of his “job and money advice” from him at a young age. Sadly, he died three weeks before James Cash Penney got his first job (“James Cash Penney and the Golden Rule”). When James Cash Penney was young, he wanted to be a lawyer. Unfortunately, he never got the proper education to be a lawyer.

However, in 1898, he started his first job as a clerk; as time passed, he was offered a partnership by Thomas Callahan and Guy Jefferson. He married Berta Alva Hess in 1899, who died of pneumonia in 1910. Then married Mary Kimball in 1919 and had a child named Kimball (Reece). He dissolved the partnership and “moved to Kemmerer, Wyoming with his wife, Mary Kimball, and infant son, Kimball, to start his store” (JCPenny History). He bought and created two more stores, then moved to Utah to be closer to railroads and banks. In 1912, he had thirty-four stores in the Rocky Mountains, which were later under the brand “JC Penney” (“JCPenny History”). James Cash Penney became the talk of the state, from a country boy to the owner of more than fifty stores in the United States by 1915.

James Cash Penney’s Accomplishments 

Being known as the “mother store” in Kemmerer after opening a second location significantly impacted James Cash Penney’s career by giving him more confidence and trust to create more branch locations “(JCPenny history”). When James Cash Penney was a child, his family had financial problems, so he had to learn how to spend money wisely and make smart investments early on in his life. Because of this, he experienced the “golden rule” at a young age. It started when he was eight years old, and his family could not afford to buy him new clothes because clothes wore out his old ones. So his parents decided to give him some advice on how to earn a good amount of money from a few dollars; to buy himself some clothes. First, he uses the money to buy a cheap pig, which he then sells for profit to buy more pigs after earning a significant amount from selling and buying pigs to buy some clothes. However, soon after, he started hearing complaints from his neighbors about the smell and noise. So his parents advised him to stop the business and sell all the pigs since he was still a child and did not want to resist his parents. Because he knew they only wanted what was best for him, “I would not exercise my ingenuity to get money if by doing so I caused distress to other people.” Growing up, he noticed that many could go by the golden rule even though they might not know they are abiding by it, “my youthful experience the Golden Rule,” said James Cash Penney once he grew up (James Cash Penney and the Golden Rule). Since James Cash Penney was known to be a good man, he was very respectful to his employees and kept the working shifts short yet with good pay so they would work hard, “It still operates, as of 2011, albeit with shorter hours than many other locations.” (“JCPenny History”). He felt like the golden rule was part of him, and something he could not imagine how living without it would turn out. To explain why the law is essential to follow, he gave an example about a compass and sailor, “the ship’s captain will not throw the compass overboard because the wind blows fair and the day is funny.” He also said, “For he knows, from the experiences of the ocean’s instability, that the danger days of the storm are always “just ahead.” Even though he vowed to follow the golden rule, he knew it would be difficult, “So I come back again to the condition that the Golden Rule, if one adopts it, is a difficult master to serve” (James Cash Penney and the Golden Rule).

James Cash Penney’s Impact on the World 

James Cash Penney’s “gross business had reached $190,000,000 (equivalent to $2.61 billion in 2014)” by 1928 (“JC Penny”). In just twenty-one years, from opening his first shop to having one thousand stores in almost every state in the United States, and from working on the farm to having the largest shop chain in the United States, James Cash Penney has left his mark through his achievements and downfalls. JCPenney is one of the shops with excellent customer service. No matter where someone is, JCPenney is a great place to shop for “appliances, sporting goods, garden merchandise, restaurants, beauty salons, portrait studios, auto parts, and auto centers” (“JC Penny”). JC Penney welcomes people of all races and sizes no matter what they distinguish as. James Cash Penney has inspired many people and businesses all over the world. He even had a part in the creation of Walmart by inspiring one of the retailers, “in 1940, Sam Walton began working at a J. C. Penney in Des Moines, Iowa. Walton later went on to found the future retailer Walmart in 1962” (“JC Penny”). Because of this, he is still recognized as a significant influence on small and large businesses, “Penney’s store was successful because his customers liked the merchandise and good service” (Reece). By following the Golden Rule, he has achieved many great things.

The Influence James Cash Penney’s Life has

A celebrity for some, a person to look up to for others, and a teacher for the rest; James Cash Penney has influenced and allowed small and large companies to go down in history. Since James Cash Penney started his business, he has been an excellent employer to the employees he hired. “Penney always called his employees “associates.” These men became manager-partners in new stores and also shared in the profits” (Reece). He also taught the employees how to manage the store so they could become future managers at branch stores. He wanted the managers in different branch stores to “find another honest and hardworking man and train him as manager for another new store” (Reece). James Cash Penney was also “one of the first entrepreneurs to use corporate profit sharing to encourage employees to have a stake in the company’s success” (Spiro). Many small companies or large corporations that want to become better businesses follow some of the things he did to maybe someday too, go down in history as great brands. James Cash Penney did a lot of great things during his life. He even came up with a quote based on his own experiences that can be meaningful to some he inspired or useless to others he did not: “Give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I will give you a man who will make history, Give me a man with no goals and I will give you a stock clerk” (Spiro).

Works Cited

“James Cash Penny and the Golden Rule.” Farnam Street Media, fs. blog/James-cash-P money-and-the-golden-rule/.

“JC Penney.” Companies History.com, www.companieshistory.com/jc-penney/. 

“JCPenny History.” Zippa | The Career Expert, www.zippia.com/j-c-Penney-careers-62 97/history/. 

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

Spiro, Josh. “The Great Leaders Series: James Cash Penney, Founder of J.C. Penney 

Before Profit Sharing and Employee Ownership Became Heralded Management Techniques, James Cash Penney Used Them to Build the First Nationwide Chain of Department Stores.” Inc, 18 December 2009, www.inc.com/30years/ articles/james-cash-penney.