The Mother Store: The Mother Store of J.C. Penney Co. opened in 1929 in Kemmerer, Wyo. The store still exists as a typical Penney’s store with several historical features from the early days of the company. The store was much like the store where I worked during high school in Texas. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
J.C. Penney Home: The home of the Penney family has been restored and is furnished in early 1900s motif. The home is free to visit and contains a room of historical photos and items from the J.C. Penney Company. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Kemmerer Store: The Kemmerer store is known as the Mother Store and features typical merchandise as well as many historical items. Shown is a view of the store’s interior, which was typical of the stores built in the early years of the company. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
We travel with a destination in mind and an approximate route, but in most cases, that is subject to change. If we happen to see an interesting subject or event, we will alter our plans to go and see or do whatever has caught our attention.
During our current trip through several western states, our planned route led us through Kemmerer, Wyo., a typical small western U.S. town with a population of about 2,500 residents. However, one previous resident in the late 1800s and early 1900s was James Cash Penney. We quickly saw that this small Wyoming town was proud of this part of Kemmerer’s history.
This caught our attention because we both worked for Penney’s in high school and college. We worked in an older downtown store designed very much like the current store in Kemmerer, as well as a larger mall store, while in college. I was working for the company at the time of Mr. Penney’s death in 1971. We were hoping to see the first store in Kemmerer.
J.C. Penney was a young entrepreneur in his 20s when he went to work for a dry-goods store called Golden Rule Stores. The company had stores in Colorado and Wyoming.
A short time later, Penney was offered to purchase one-third interest in the company for $2,000. Penney managed to save up $500 and he was able to borrow $1,500 and he was one-third owner. He was to open a new store in Kemmerer, Wyo.
Penney moved his family to Kemmerer and began the process of opening the store. It was a small one-room wooden building and Penney and his family lived upstairs. Penney offered quality merchandise with the price marked on every item. Everyone paid the same price, whether they were wealthy or poor, no special bargaining for the wealthy. He also accepted only cash from customers.
While some locals predicted doom and failure, the store opened in April, 1902. On the first day of business, sales receipts at the Golden Rule Store totaled $466.59, which was a significant figure in 1902 dollars. The store was an instant success.
Penney opened two additional stores in Rock Springs, Wyo. and Cumberland, Wyo. in 1904. In 1907, the other two owners offered to sell interest in Golden Rule Stores and Penney took the offer and now owned the chain of small stores. Penney had a goal of a chain of stores that would cover the Rockies.
In 1912, Penney established its headquarters for all of the stores in Salt Lake City, Utah. By the end of 1912, there were 34 Golden Rule Stores with sales exceeding $2 million. The chain of stores is incorporated in Utah under the name J.C. Penney Company, Inc. The Golden Rule Store name was phased out.
In 1914, the company moved its headquarters to New York City to be closer to major merchandise suppliers. This move proved very successful and by 1915 the company had 86 stores operating in 13 states.
However, in 1917 at the company’s annual convention, Penney announced his decision to step down from President of J.C. Penney Company. Many fellow associates were against this move but his decision was made. Penney was stepping down as President but would continue in other capacities.
By stepping down Penney provided an opportunity for his associates’ growth and advancement. Penney recommended Earl Sams as President. Sams was a longtime friend who was hired as a sales associate in 1907 at the store in Kemmerer, Wyo. and worked his way up as the company grew.
What about that first store in Kemmerer? It moved into a second location in Kemmerer and continued to thrive. In the 1920s a new store design was initiated and Kemmerer was to get another new location. The new location in Kemmerer opened in 1929 and became known as the “Mother Store” of J.C. Penney Co. That store is still in existence today and is the store that we visited while in Kemmerer.
The home of the Penney family is also open for visitors in Kemmerer. This is the house where the family lived after moving from the upstairs area in the first store. The family home has been restored and is furnished with furniture and items from the early 1900s time period. One room in the house is set aside for historical items and memorabilia from the beginning of Penney’s career in Kemmerer.
The stop in Kemmerer was unplanned, but one that we are happy we discovered while passing through southwest Wyoming. We were able to reminisce about our time with the company. While the jobs were high school and college jobs with no intention of anything more, it was a walk down memory lane to see the store design and many of the features of the early stores.
While we did not see the first store, as that building no longer exists but we did enjoy our time at the J.C. Penney Mother Store in Kemmerer, Wyo.! Time to travel on down the road.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Store Interior: Shown is a display of merchandise as well as historical items in the Kemmerer Penney’s store. Seen on the wall is a photo of the first store in town, which was a wooden, one-room store in town. That building no longer exists. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Historical Display and Interior: Shown is another interior view of the Penney’s store in Kemmerer, Wyo. The walls are lined with wood fixtures and display areas as well as the changing rooms and mirrors. Located above are historical items and photographs. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Home Historical Items: One room in the Penney home museum is set aside for photos and memorabilia from the early days in Penney’s retail career. The remainder of the house is furnished with items from the early 1900s time frame. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Penney Statute: A statute of J.C. Penney stands on a prominent street corner near the Mother Store in downtown Kemmerer, Wyo. The city has honored its most famous citizen in a wonderful way. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com