J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP; most commonly known today by the name JCPenney or simply Penney's) is a mid-range chain of American department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,106 department stores in 49 of the 50 U.S. states (all except Hawaii) and Puerto Rico. J. C. Penney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many small markets.
In addition to selling conventional merchandise, J. C. Penney stores often house several leased departments such as Sephora, Optical, Portrait Studios, Jewelry & Watch repair, etc.

J. C. Penney was founded by James Cash Penney and William Henry McManus. The original name for the store that started Penney in the dry goods business was The Golden Rule Store, owned by T. M. Callahan in Longmont, Colorado. It was later changed to J. C. Penney Company when it was sold in 1912 by T. M. Callahan to his protege, J. C. Penney. The mother store is located in Kemmerer, Wyoming, and still operates, as of 2009, albeit with hours shorter than many of its other store locations.

J. C. Penney relocated its headquarters in 1909 to Salt Lake City, Utah to be closer to banks and railroads, and again in 1914 to Buffalo, New York to simplify the buying, financing, and transportation of goods. By 1917, the company operated 175 stores in 22 states in the United States. J. C. Penney acquired The Crescent Corset Company in 1920, the company's first wholly-owned subsidiary. In 1922, the company's oldest active private brand, Big Mac work clothes, was launched. The company opened its 500th store in 1924 in Hamilton, Missouri, James Cash Penney's hometown. By the opening of the 1,000th store in 1928, gross business had reached $190,000,000. In 1940 Sam Walton began working at a J. C. Penney in Des Moines, Iowa. Walton later went on to found future retailer Wal-Mart in 1962. By 1941, the company operated 1,600 stores in all 48 states. In 1956, J. C. Penney started national advertising with a series of advertisements in Life magazine. J. C. Penney credit cards were issued and accepted at its stores for the first time in 1959. The credit cards issued today with the appearance of bring issued by J. C. Penney are in fact falsely represented as such since they are issued by a bank with no loyalty to J. C. Penney's customers.