The Retail Industry Inside J.C. Penny Company, Inc.

The industry that I chose to research is the retail industry and the publicly traded corporation that I chose within that industry is J.C. Penny Company, Inc. With this paper I will discuss a little background about J.C. Penny Company, Inc., analyze the business level strategies that are most important to the long term success of the firm, analyze the corporate level strategies that is most important, the competitive environment, as well as slow cycle and fast cycle markets. J. C. Penney Company, Inc., commonly known as J.C. Penney and formerly known as Penney’s, is a chain of American department stores based in Plano, Texas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and previously operated a catalog business and several discount outlets. In addition to selling conventional merchandise, J.C. Penney stores often house several leased departments such as Sephora, Seattle's Best Coffee, optical centers, portrait studios, and jewelry repair. Most J.C. Penney stores are located in suburban shopping malls. Before 1966, most of its stores were located in downtown areas. As shopping malls became more popular in the latter half of the 20th century, J.C. Penney followed the trend by relocating and developing stores to anchor the malls. In more recent years, the chain has continued to follow consumer traffic, echoing the retailing trend of opening independent stores with some next door to competitors. The company has been an Internet retailer since 1998. It has streamlined its catalog and distribution while undergoing renovation improvements at store level (J.C. Penny History). J.C. Penney began his career in retail management when he opened The Golden Rule store, a partnership with Guy Johnson and Thomas Callahan, on April 14, 1902 in Kemmerer, Wyoming. He participated in the creation of two more stores, and purchased full interest in all three locations when Callahan and Johnson dissolved their partnership in 1907. In 1909,