Celebration of Fools - An Inside Look at the Rise and Fall of JCPenney

Bill Hare

AMACOM

AMERICAN MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hare, Bill, 1934 “
Celebration of fools : an inside look at the rise and fall of JCPenney / Bill Hare.
p. cm.
Includes index.

0-8144-7159-5

(hardcover)
1. J.C. Penney Co. ”History. 2. Stores, Retail ”United States ”History. 3.
Penney, J. C. (James Cash), 1875 “1971. 4. Merchants ”United States ”
Biography. I. Title.

HF5465.U6P4519 2004 381 ² .141 ² 06573 ”dc22

2003027324

Copyright 2004 William Moorman Hare

All rights reserved.

This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in whole or in part,
in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise ,
without the prior written permission of AMACOM,
a division of American Management Association,
1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

Printing number

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Elaine

Acknowledgments

Again and again I have read and heard about the Golden Age of Publishing and it's a shame that this book's wondrous editor, Ellen Kadin, wasn't born 30 years earlier. The book world of that time would have been privileged. The same thought extends to Ms. Kadin's editorial colleague Christina McLaughlin, who, in just one reading of an earlier manuscript, gave a trenchant and helpful critique. Likewise, I am particularly grateful for development editor Barry Richardson's sensitivity, keen eye, and wonderful touch. The woman who connected me to these people is my agent, Denise Marcil, whose attention to artistic and business detail make her another throwback to that Golden Age.

I am also indebted to my friend John Shostrom of Sports Illustrated for his adroit copyediting and excellent advice over the long course of writing this book. Erika Spelman, as well, kept everything together and on course during the book's production, and Georgia Maas did a fine job of vetting the final-final manuscript.

These acknowledgments do not include the many people who are mentioned in the book's introduction or who appear in its text. So this paragraph is about the others who consistently surprised me with their amiable generosity as mentors, conduits , or willing sources of information ”when, often as not, I just appeared out of the blue by mail, e-mail, fax, or phone line. Just listing them here can hardly begin to express my gratitude: Laura Castoro, Tom Comerford, Bill Conlin, Gordon Curry, Jim Davis, Mark Donald, Terry Eckert, John Hare, Dr. Marcia Kropf, James MacLean, John Mersereau, Joe Murphy, Jeff Pirtle, Ann Rule, and Richard Whittingham. Also ”for their patience and professionalism ”Kevin O's ullivan of AP/Wide World and David Woo of The Dallas Morning News.

Finally, there were valuable contributions from other Penney people who are still employed by the company and wished to remain anonymous.