JC Penney Museum and Mother Store

Modern jcpenney stores are a far cry from the small dry-goods store that James Cash Penney opened in Kemmerer, Wyoming in 1902. In those days, frontier miners and farmers and their families turned to jcpenney for blue jeans and other work clothes, shoes, fabrics and sewing needs. Today, busy working families turn to jcpenney in cities, towns and suburbs and to jcp.com for affordable fashions and home accessories. Originally, Mr. Penney called his stores the Golden Rule because it was his personal and business philosophy to treat others the way he himself would want to be treated. In 1913, his growing chain of stores incorporated in Utah as the J. C. Penney Company, Inc. and the Golden Rule name was phased out. In 1914, the Company moved its headquarters from Salt Lake City to New York City to be closer to its major sources of merchandise. Since 1992, the Company has been headquartered in Plano, Texas.