Full Description

J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCPenney), incorporated in 2002, is a holding company whose principal operating subsidiary is J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc. (JCP). The Company is retailer, operating 1,093 JCPenney department stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico as of January 31, 2009. The Company’s business consists of selling merchandise and services to consumers through its department stores and Direct (Internet/catalog) channels. Department stores and Direct serve the same type of customers and provide the same mix of merchandise, and department stores accept returns from sales made in stores, via the Internet and through catalogs. The Company sells family apparel and footwear, accessories, fine and fashion jewelry, beauty products through Sephora inside JCPenney and home furnishings. In addition, the department stores provide its customers with services, such as styling salon, optical, portrait photography and custom decorating.

As of January 31, 2009, JCPenney operated 1,093 department stores throughout the continental United States, Alaska and Puerto Rico, of which 389 were owned, including 105 stores located on ground leases. It owned and operated four Direct (Internet/catalog) fulfillment centers and operated five regional warehouses, of which four were owned. In addition, it owned seven of its 13 store merchandise distribution centers, each of which was located in its owned fulfillment centers or regional warehouses, as well as the Company’s home office facility in Plano, Texas, and approximately 240 acres of property adjacent to the facility. The Company purchases its merchandise from approximately 3,550 domestic and foreign suppliers.

In February 2008, the Company launched American Living, a new updated traditional lifestyle brand created for JCPenney by Polo Ralph Lauren’s Global Brand Concepts. American Living includes offerings across 40 merchandise categories for women, men and children, as well as shoes, accessories and home goods. In April 2008, the Company launched Linden Street, which is a home brand launch. It is a blend of traditional and contemporary styles. For the Back-to-School season, in junior’s, it launched private brand Decree, a denim-inspired line of apparel for girls and young women, and two new brands: LeTigre from Kenneth Cole Productions and Fabulosity, a line of sportswear designed by Kimora Lee Simmons. For young men, the Company extended the American Living brand with new denim, graphic t-shirts and jackets, and launched White Tag, a new urban rock inspired national brand of denim and art-driven t-shirts. In addition to the new fashion brands for Back-to-School, it introduced Dorm Life, a new private modern lifestyle brand in the home division featuring merchandise to furnish a college dorm or off-campus housing.

In October 2008, the Company announced the enhancement of the career brands Worthington for women and Stafford for men. JCPenney updated the private brands with new categories, fits and fabrics that overlap seasons. Also in October 2008, the Company announced the launch of two new designer brands, I Heart Ronson, a women’s fashion sportswear line designed by Charlotte Ronson, and ALLEN B., a women’s fashion sportswear and dress collection by Allen B. Schwartz.