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Davis Journal

JCPenney store has long history in Bountiful

Jan 05, 2023 11:04AM ● By Becky Ginos

Founder J.C. Penney opened the first Golden Rule store in 1902 in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

BOUNTIFUL—There are JCPenney department stores all over Utah, including one in the Layton Hills Mall, but at one time it was on Main Street in Bountiful. Known as the Golden Rule store it opened Sept. 9, 1910 next to Brooks Fabric on the corner of 100 S. Main where Pat’s Dancewear is today.
“It was called the Gold Rule because those were the principals he (Penney) based his store on,” said Jeff Thorpe, who gave a presentation on the history of the store to the Sons of Utah Pioneers (SUP). “In the early days if he found out an employee was a drinker or smoker he’d fire them.”
James Cash Penney founded the store in 1902 with two partners and opened the first Golden Rule dry-goods store in Kemmerer, Wyoming. They opened two more stores in other Wyoming frontier towns. As the company grew, by 1929 there were more than a thousand JCPenney stores, one of them in Bountiful. 
“Penney didn’t think he needed ads because their prices were better than other stores,” said Thorpe. “In 1915 spring dresses and parasols were 98 cents.”
In 1920, an attempted robbery at the Bountiful store was thwarted by the marshal when he saw the suspects through a window holding up the night watchman. The marshal rushed to the rear door to stop them when they came out but they used Fisher as a shield to make their escape. They fled in a car that had been parked several blocks away. The men were later arrested in California, according to an article in the Clipper newspaper. 
In 1927 the store was robbed again. “It was not uncommon for the store on Main to be burglarized,” said Thorpe. 
A new theater was being built in 1941 and a new JCPenney store was also being built next to it just around the corner from the old location. It opened in 1942. “When the new store opened Mrs. Smart dresses were $2.98,” he said.
SUP member Ross Smedley also had a connection to JCPenney growing up. “In 1962 my brother left on a mission and my parents didn’t know how they were going to support him,” he said. “My mom was always shopping on Main and she started working at JCPenney. She supported three missionaries while working at JCPenney.”
When the store moved over to Pages Lane she worked there, said Smedley. “She worked for 20 years.”
JCPenney was cash and carry only because Penney believed it was a way to save customers from debt. In 1958, the company moved to credit with store credit cards. 
Eventually the department store moved to Pages Lane. When a new store opened at Layton Hills Mall the Pages Lane location became a JCPenney call center. It closed in 2005. The building was razed to make way for apartments and retailers.
Thorpe’s father worked for JCPenney so he has good memories of the store. “I remember as a kid sitting on top of the store watching the parade and eating candy and soda pop,” he said. “We’d help clean the store and put tags on and get spud nuts from Carmack’s.”