After hearing the hymn "God Will Take Care of You" (written by Civilla Durfee Martin) being sung at a service in the hospital's chapel, he became a born-again Christian. The financial setbacks took a toll on his health, and he checked himself into the Battle Creek Sanitarium for treatment. Īfter the crash, Penney lost virtually all of his personal wealth and borrowed against his life insurance policies to help the company meet its payroll. Most of this work was halted when the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression left Penney in financial ruin. This was also the start of Foremost Dairy Products Inc. Gwinn had invested heavily in Florida real estate including 120,000 acres (490 km 2) in Clay County. By 1921 he had a home (Belle Isle) on Biscayne Bay in Miami. The large income allowed him to be heavily involved in many philanthropic causes during the 1920s. The number of stores reached 1,400 by 1929. By 1924, Penney reported income of more than $1 million annually. In 1916, he began to expand the chain east of the Mississippi and during the 1920s, the Penney company expanded nationwide, with 120 stores in 1920 (mostly still in the west). The company was incorporated under the new name, J. In 1913, he moved the company to the Kearns Building in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. īy 1912, there were 34 stores in the Rocky Mountain States. He participated in opening two more stores, and when Callahan and Johnson dissolved their partnership in 1907 he purchased full interest in all three stores. Penney invested $2,000 and moved to Kemmerer, Wyoming, to open a store there. In 1902, owners Guy Johnson and Thomas Callahan, impressed by his work ethic and salesmanship, offered him a one-third partnership in a new store he would open. began working for a small chain of stores in the western United States called the Golden Rule stores. Penney's tuberculosis caused him to venture west to Longmont, Colorado. However, his father's untimely death forced a change in plans, and Penney was forced to work as a store clerk to help support the family. Īfter graduation from Hamilton High School, Penney intended to attend college with the hopes of becoming a lawyer. Penney's father was a Baptist preacher and farmer whose strict discipline included making his son pay for his own clothing once he reached 8 years of age. He was the seventh of twelve children, only six of whom lived to adulthood, born to James Cash Penney and Mary Frances (born Paxton) Penney. Penney was born on September 16, 1875, on a farm outside of Hamilton, Caldwell County, Missouri. (Septem– February 12, 1971) was an American businessman and entrepreneur who founded the JCPenney stores in 1902. Establishing JCPenney department stores in 1902
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |