Penney OpCo, LLC (formerly known as J. C. Penney Company, Inc; doing business as JCPenney and abbreviated JCP) is a midscale American department store chain with 689 locations in 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. In addition to selling conventional merchandise, JCPenney offers large Fine Jewelry departments, The Salon by InStyle, and Sephora inside JCPenney. JCPenney stores often house several leased departments such as Seattle's Best Coffee, optical centers, and portrait studios.
Most JCPenney stores are located in suburban shopping malls. Before 1966, most of its stores were located in downtown areas. As shopping malls became more popular during the latter half of the 20th century, JCPenney began relocating and developing stores to anchor the malls. In more recent years, the chain has continued to follow consumer traffic, echoing the retailing trend of opening some freestanding stores, including some next door to competitors. Certain stores are located in power centers. The company has been an Internet retailer since 1998. It has streamlined its catalog and distribution while undergoing renovation improvements at the store level.
In May 2020, JCPenney filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and in September 2020, Brookfield Asset Management and Simon Property Group agreed to purchase JCPenney for around $800 million in cash and debt.
Goodwrench took to the airwaves in 1977 as a way to market General Motors franchised dealers' service departments, replacing a patchwork of separate GM-divisional offerings. At the time, GM marketed vehicles in the US under the Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC brands.
The Mr. Goodwrench program, as originally conceived, required each dealer to adhere to a set of service delivery standards: requiring high levels of factory training, parts on hand, and service department amenities. The program was backed with a national advertising campaign which featured the iconic Mr. Goodwrench, as the helpful mechanic who could fix whatever ailed your vehicle.
Through several iterations, the advertising campaign worked its way into the lexicon of Americana by becoming shorthand for someone who can fix things. For many years, Jay Leno included his portrayal of Mr. Badwrench, the Evil Twin of Mr. Goodwrench in his stand-up act; The NASA Space shuttle astronauts compared themselves to "Mr. Goodwrench" when they were fixing the Hubble Space Telescope. Beginning in 1995, the brand was changed to become GM Goodwrench Service. In 1997, the word "Plus" was added, and they dropped the word the "Mr." and the human representations.
In February 2011, General Motors phased out the Goodwrench brand in the United States, as it sought to focus its marketing efforts on its four brands. The Goodwrench name was still used for service in Canada until March 2014 when GM Goodwrench was re-branded as GM Certified Service.
The second generation RAV4, known as the XA20 series, went on sale in July 2000. Like the previous model, the XA20 was available in three- and five-door configurations and was constructed on a platform that shared Carina and Corolla elements. Development began in 1995, with a design freeze in the first half of 1998. Styling was done at Calty Design Research Incorporated (also simply known as Calty) by Yasuhide Hosoda and Kevin Hunter from 1996 to 1997.
The second generation RAV4 was originally offered in a number of trim levels in the UK: NV was front-wheel drive, while NRG, GX, and VX were permanent four-wheel drive with differing levels of equipment. Although the RAV4 was available as a three-door in Europe, Asia and Australia, the American model was only available in a five-door configuration. A 1.8-litre inline-four engine (only with 2WD) producing 92 kW (123 hp; 125 PS), 2.0-litre inline-four engine producing 110 kW (150 hp; 150 PS), 2.4-litre inline-four engine producing 118 kW (158 hp; 160 PS), and a D-4D diesel engine were available. Some RAV4s came with anti-lock braking system, electronic stability control, air conditioning, a height-adjustable driver's seat, cruise control, a six-speaker CD stereo and power windows, mirrors and seats. A sport package added a mesh grille, bonnet scoop, color-keyed door handles, a roof rack, silver sport pedals, heated mirrors, gray-painted bumpers and fender flares, and sport fabric seats. Other options included alloy wheels, heated seats, a sunroof and keyless entry. 16-inch wheels were standard; larger tires were available on all-wheel-drive models.
In Australia, the RAV4 came in base Edge and upmarket Cruiser models in both three- and five-door configurations. The main differentiation between the two models was in appearance. Edge models came with unpainted grey bumpers and side cladding, mirrors, and door handles, and featured steel rims. Cruiser models gained body-colored (painted) bumpers and moldings, mirrors, and door handles, alloy wheels, and ABS brakes. All models came equipped with a brand-new 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine featuring VVT (variable valve timing), resulting in improved power and torque, as well as fuel consumption. Permanent all-wheel-drive was a feature. Options were ABS brakes (on the Edge), and air conditioning (on all models). The second generation RAV4 enjoyed success in Australia, where it became the best-selling SUV in the country in 2001, overtaking its rival the Honda CR-V for the first time.
In late 2003, the 2004 model RAV4 was given a styling update, improved equipment, and, in certain markets, a new engine. In the United States the safety structure was improved and Vehicle Stability Control was made standard. The RAV4's 2.0-liter engine was upgraded with a new 2.4-liter engine in the US, and Australia producing 120 kW (160 hp; 160 PS) and 220 N⋅m (162 lb-ft). Other countries got mostly 5-door models with the 2.0 litre VVT-i engine. Automatic electric air conditioning also became available. European models got a new catalytic converter because of the new European emission policy. The new model also got an electric throttle.
In Australia, for the facelift, the base Edge was renamed CV, and gained standard air conditioning (previously an option). The CV also received painted bumpers, which came in either silver or body-colored shades, depending on the body color. In addition, the model range was given a subtle facelift, consisting largely of a new front bumper with circular fog lights and white turn signals instead of the older orange lights. In 2005, a new "CV Sport" model was added to the range in Australia, which included a non-functional bonnet scoop, giving the RAV4 a more aggressive appearance. The CV Sport model was short-lived, lasting only a year, and was introduced primarily to stimulate sales until the new model arrived in early 2006.
The second-generation RAV4 had the highest proportion of female drivers among all makes and models in the United States, with the possible exception of the Volkswagen New Beetle, according to 2003–2004 registration and survey data.
Albert Champion Company was founded by Albert Champion in June 1905 in Boston's South End, in the landmark Cyclorama Building, to import French electrical parts, including Nieuport components. Champion presided as president of the Albert Champion Company with partners Frank D. Stranahan as treasurer and younger brother Spencer Stranahan as clerk. By 1907, The Albert Champion Company was manufacturing porcelain spark plugs with the name Champion stamped on the side, Robert Stranahan, the youngest of the Stranahan brothers, finished his classes at Harvard, ahead of his class of 1908, and went to work in the stockroom.
Champion was not happy in his job because he had no control over his work. In 1908, he went to see William C. Durant of the Buick Motor Co. Durant asked to see some of his prototypes. Buick at that time was using Rajah spark plugs. Durant thought they could manufacture spark plugs to Champion's design cheaper than buying them from Rajah, and set Champion up in a workshop in Flint, MI. Champion went to work producing spark plugs to be used in Buick automobiles. Champion and Durant formed another company with Champion's name, "Champion Ignition Co." that very shortly later, the Stranahan brothers from ("Champion Spark Plug Co.") informed them they could not use the name "Champion" as they had it trademarked. Later that year, the name of the second company founded by Durant and Champion was changed to "AC Spark Plug" to reflect Albert Champion's initials.
In 1910, the company moved to Toledo, Ohio to be close to the Willys-Overland Auto Company.
In 1931, Champion introduced its first suppressor-type spark plugs. They used a carbon-based resistor to reduce the effects of ignition noise on radio waves.
On February 13th, 1961 two geode prospectors discovered a metal artifact encased in hard clay near the town of Olancha, California. The artifact was dubbed "Coso artifact" due to alleged claims that there were fossils in the clay that was 500,000 years old, which would make the item an out-of-place artifact. The object turned out to be a Champion spark plug from the 1920s.
In 1989, Champion was purchased by Cooper Industries and is now a wholly-owned brand of Federal-Mogul Corporation. Its main products are a line of spark plugs for a wide range of cars, trucks, SUVs, racing and marine applications. Also included in the brand, depending on the regional market and brand history, are spark plug wires, wiper blades, batteries, oil filters, lighting, and glow plugs.
Champion is also a longtime sponsor of various racing events, cars, and series including two series run under sanctioning by IMSA.
United Furniture Warehouse (UFW) was a Canadian retail furniture chain operating locations in Western Canada and Ontario. The company billed itself as "offering warehouse-style shopping at the lowest possible prices." The company was founded in 1981 by John Volken, an immigrant who arrived in Canada from East Germany in 1960 at the age of 18. It "was one of the first businesses to sell at warehouse prices and to operate without commission sales staff or in-store decor.
In 2004, the company was acquired by another national furniture retailer, The Brick. In 2006, The Brick rebranded 24 of these under their own name in an attempt to save on advertising costs and increase sales, which had fallen 10.8% in the third quarter of 2005 for established UFW stores.
As of March 2017, all remaining UFW stores had been re-branded as “The Brick Outlet”.
The channel was launched under the name Lonestar on September 7, 2001, focusing exclusively on Western and rural-themed programming such as films, television dramas, and lifestyle series. After a few years, Lonestar began to air more general action and adventure programming unrelated to the Western theme of its early years, a considerable amount of that being movies, to the point where they made up the majority of the schedule. On August 21, 2008, Canwest announced that Lonestar would be rebranded as MovieTime, focusing on contemporary films. The name change took effect on October 6, 2008. A high-definition simulcast feed of MovieTime was launched on March 12, 2010.
PolyGram N.V. was an entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a holding for their record companies, and was renamed "PolyGram" in 1972. The name was chosen to reflect the Siemens interest Polydor Records and the Philips interest Phonogram Records.[citation needed] The company traced its origins through Deutsche Grammophon back to the inventor of the flat disc gramophone, Emil Berliner.
Later on, PolyGram expanded into the largest global entertainment company, creating film and television divisions. In May 1998, it was sold to the alcoholic distiller Seagram which owned film, television, and music company Universal Studios. PolyGram was thereby folded into Universal Music Group, and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment was folded into Universal Pictures, which had been both Seagram successors of MCA. When the newly formed entertainment division of Seagram faced financial difficulties, it was sold to Vivendi, and MCA became known as Universal Studios, as Seagram ceased to exist. Vivendi remains the majority owner of the Universal Music Group (while the film and television division was sold to NBCUniversal) until 2021. In February 2017, UMG revived the company under the name of PolyGram Entertainment, which currently serves as their film and television division.
The brand was originated by Dr. William George Ballard, a veterinary surgeon, and was Canada's first canned pet food. Ballard started producing his pet food in the basement of the family home, eventually opening a small plant in Vancouver in 1931. The brand proved to be so popular that a second plant was opened in Ontario in 1933, distributing to Eastern Canada. When he retired in 1948, Ballard's son Bob took over the business. Dr. Ballard's brand disappeared from store shelves in 2001 when production stopped.
Torvill and Dean (Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean) are English ice dancers and former British, European, Olympic, and World champions. At the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics, the pair won gold and became the highest scoring figure skaters of all time for a single program, receiving twelve perfect 6.0s and six 5.9s which included artistic impression scores of 6.0 from every judge, after skating to Maurice Ravel's Boléro. One of the most-watched television events ever in the United Kingdom, their 1984 Olympics performance was watched by a British television audience of more than 24 million people.
The pair turned professional following the 1984 World Championships, regaining amateur status briefly ten years later in 1994 to compete in the Olympics once again. The pair retired from competitive skating for good in 1998 when they toured one last time with their own show, Ice Adventures, before rejoining Stars on Ice for one more season. Their final routine was performed to Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years", a routine they had devised a few years earlier for competition. Although remaining close friends, the pair did not skate together again until they were enticed out of retirement to take part in ITV's Dancing on Ice. Their career was portrayed in the 2018 biographical film Torvill & Dean.
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 2000 for professional users and Windows Me for home users. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001.
Development of Windows XP began in the late 1990s under the codename "Neptune", built on the Windows NT kernel explicitly intended for mainstream consumer use. An updated version of Windows 2000 was also initially planned for the business market. However, in January 2000, both projects were scrapped in favor of a single OS codenamed "Whistler", which would serve as a single platform for both consumer and business markets. As a result, Windows XP is the first consumer edition of Windows not based on the Windows 95 kernel and MS-DOS.
Upon its release, Windows XP received critical acclaim, noting increased performance and stability (especially compared to Windows Me), a more intuitive user interface, improved hardware support, and expanded multimedia capabilities. However, some industry reviewers were concerned by the new licensing model and product activation system. Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 were succeeded by Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, released in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Market share of Windows XP fell below 1% by the end of 2021, right when Windows 11 was released.
Mainstream support for Windows XP ended on April 14, 2009, and extended support ended on April 8, 2014. After that, the operating system ceased receiving further support. Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, based on Windows XP Professional, received security updates until April 2019. After that, unofficial methods were made available to apply the updates to other editions of Windows XP. Still, Microsoft discouraged this practice, citing incompatibility issues.[10] As of December 2021, 0.5% of Windows PCs[9] run Windows XP (on all continents, the share is below 1%), and 0.18% of all devices across all platforms run Windows XP. Windows XP is still very prevalent in many countries, such as Armenia, where 50–60% of computers use it.
The third-generation GMC pickup was introduced for the 1973 model year. Designated the "Rounded Line" generation by General Motors, the trucks grew in size inside and out. As pickup trucks increased in use as personal vehicles, cab features and options moved closer in line with GM sedans (with power windows and power door locks becoming options). To further expand its practicality, a four-door crew cab body was introduced (offering 6-passenger seating).
While relatively straight-lined and boxy in appearance (leading to their "Square-body" nickname from the public) the Rounded Line trucks were the first generation to be designed with the use of computers and wind tunnels, optimizing the exterior shape for lower drag and improved fuel economy. The chassis was an all-new design (with all trucks receiving a leaf-spring rear suspension); K-Series trucks moved to all-wheel drive (shift-on-the-fly 4x4 was introduced for 1981).
Alongside the introduction of the four-door crew cab, the third generation marked the introduction of a dual-rear-wheel pickup truck ("Big Dooley"). In 1978, GMC became the first American full-size pickup truck sold with a diesel engine (a 5.7L Oldsmobile diesel V8); a 6.2L V8 diesel was introduced in 1982. This generation also marks the first use of the Chevrolet Silverado nameplate (in use for Chevrolet full-size trucks today).
The Rounded Line generation is the longest-produced version of the model line, produced for 18 model years. For 1987, it was renamed the R/V series and was gradually phased out through the 1991 model year.
