ONTARIO – JCPenney celebrated its 100th anniversary in the Mansfield area Friday.
More than 100 people lined up outside the store for coupons and free giveaways associated with the celebration.
“I had never done this before, but heard about the deals for the 100 years,” said Dawn Caudill.
She and her husband were among the first people in line. They arrived at about 8 a.m.
“We shop a JCPenney all the time,” Caudill said. “I’ve been coming to Penney’s since they were on Park Avenue when I was a kid.”
JCPenney founder, James Cash Penney opened his first Ohio store at the corner of Main and Third Streets on April 13, 1918. It was one of 20 new locations that opened that spring following the success of operating over 175 stores in downtown areas. His son even worked there for some time.
In the 1960s, the store moved twice. First, it relocated to the corner of Walnut Street and Park Avenue, and it moved again in 1964 to Kingsgate Mall. Its most recent move was to the Richland Mall on Super Bowl weekend in 1966.
“Our success, it’s always been (because of) our customer service,” said general manager Marlene Howard.
Nearly a year ago, Howard saw a similar scene unfold at the Richland Mall as JCPenney celebrated the grand opening of its Sephora in May 2017. More than 250 people had lined up outside the store’s entrances on that occasion.
JCPenney began as a small dry-goods store in 1902. The first store, located in Kemmerer, Wyoming, was called the Golden Rule store.
He 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, according to a press release.
But in 1913, when he incorporated the growing chain of stores, he renamed them the J.C. Penney Company.
The company now has approximately 870 locations across the United States and Puerto Rico, with more than 35 stores in Ohio.
During the celebration Friday, shoppers received both Sephora and JCPenney Salon gift bags.
District manager James Heine presented the Richland County Children’s Auxiliary with a $1,500 check on behalf of the JCPenney Communities Foundation.
