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Show PENNEY ADDS 500 STORES TO GREAT CHAIN The J. C. Penney Co., operators of 107S retail department stores, will negotiate fiOO leases for new stor? locations this spring for stores to be opened as rapidly as store units can he developed in a special expansion ex-pansion move just authorized by the board of directors. This expansion expan-sion will involve an increase in retail re-tail sales of between $10,000,000 and ?f0,000.000 over the present rate of around $10.000.000 a year. The store locations will be confined to cities and towns of from 2500 to 500 population. "The decision of the board of directors di-rectors to authorize this new store movement ceimcs largely as a result re-sult of a national demand from the smaller towns for J. C. Penney Co., stores and service," says Earl C. Sams, president. "Mr. Penney has just returned from a trip lasting four months, during which he has covered seventeen sev-enteen central western, southern and far western states. I have recently re-cently covered several of the east central states. We have both discovered dis-covered that the smaller towns, with increased transportation facilities fa-cilities arc demanding the same kind of shopping accommodations that the larger cities are enjoying. enjoy-ing. "The store units which will be established in these new locations will be duplicates in stock, equipment equip-ment and facilities for service, of the stores we are now operating in every state in the union." Following the established policy of the J. C. Penney Co., managers for the new locations will be selected se-lected from the present store personnel. per-sonnel. ' The company has sufficient men to take care of the managerial duties du-ties in the new stores -as fast as they are opened. Central locations will be selected in all new store towns and the standard type of J. C. Penney Co., store fronts and interior arrangements arrange-ments will be used. The real estate division of the organization or-ganization now has representatives in all parts of the country making store town selections and the construction con-struction department is mak-tr preparations for the most extensive store development program in me history of the company; 3fS?BB3 The J. C. Penney uu. was founded found-ed 26 years ago in Kemmerer, I Wyo. Total number of stores in operation at the present time is 1078. Estimated retail sales volume vol-ume for this year is $190,000,000. According to Mr. Sams, it- is expected ex-pected that nearly all of the new store towns will be selected and that stores will be opened by September Sep-tember of 1929. |