Facts You Should Know About Department Store Chain J.C. Penney

James Cash Penney officially launched American retail store, J.C. Penney, in 1913. In 1927 it became a publicly traded corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange. By 1929 J.C. Penney had grown to well over 1,000 stores. The original store was in Kemmerer, Wyoming and is now a museum. Sam Walton began working in a J.C. Penney in Des Moines, Iowa in 1940. Walton later went on to open Walmart. Today J.C. Penney sells apparel, home furnishings, jewelry, cosmetics and kitchen items. Its biggest sales department is women's apparel, comprising 24% of sales. Its smallest is fine jewelry, making up 5% of sales.