As JC Penney celebrates its 100th anniversary at stores across the nation this week, former associates of Bowling Greens downtown-turned-suburban store still have fond memories of coworkers and customers who became like family. They were a good company to work for, especially the family atmosphere, said Levenia Bledsoe, who started working for the local store in 1970 when it was still downtown at 911 College St. She made the move to Greenwood Mall in 1979, where she stayed 20 years. Downtown or on Scottsville Road mattered not, they were still interested in people both their employees and customers, Bledsoe said. But she does acknowledge that the smaller downtown store, located in what is now an office building, created a more intimate atmosphere. People came to town every Saturday or every Friday everybody had their day when they came to town and you got to know them and expect them, Bledsoe said. Being on the square, we enjoyed the park. A lot of times, wed go to the park at lunch and wed get acquainted with all the other ladies that worked in the other shops downtown. I have fond memories, I kind of miss it at times the customers and the people. You might see Bledsoe at this weeks anniversary sale and celebration that starts with the ribbon cutting today at 11 a.m. at the malls location. Customers will have the chance to register to win a Chevrolet Suburban Z71, seven-day Caribbean cruise for a family of four, including airfare, and thousands of $100 gift cards. For a retail company to be in existence for 100 years is quite an achievement, said Rick Abercrombie, who follows in the tradition of at least 15 managers who have served the Bowling Green store. L.M. Harris managed the first Bowling Green JCPenneys the 504th in the nation when it opened Aug. 23, 1924, on College Street. The store was one of 94 new operations that opened in 1924, which saw the company expand to 569 that registered in excess of $74 million in sales. While James Cash Penney may not have envisioned the changes, such as JCPenney.com becoming the largest retailer of apparel and home furnishings on the Internet, when he opened his first shop to serve miners in Kemmerer, Wyo., on April 14, 1902, he did understand the impact of taking care of the customer. Mr. Penney had the attitude that when you take good care of customers, profits take good care of themselves, said Allen Questrom, chairman and chief executive officer of the retailer, now based in Plano, Texas. That approach has helped the company ride retailings ups and downs become the nations 36th largest corporation that offers some of the countrys best-known private apparel brands available only at Penneys. Among those are Stafford mens dress shirts, the best-selling dress shirts in America, and the Original Arizona Jean Company. Twenties clothing will be worn by associates in honor of the companys first century of business. The evolution of the company since that was the clothing of the day reflects a changing American economy and approach in shopping. Being the operator of the nations largest catalog business has led to the successful Internet version of this type of shopping. Last year, JCPenney.com generated more than $300 million in sales. There have been other significant changes, including a conscious recruiting effort to attract the best in class talent to run the company, and a move to purchase other ventures to boost profits, such as the acquisition of 2,600 Eckerd drugstores. Questrom, who became chairman in 2000, also is the first to come from outside JCPenney ranks. It all has resulted in a company that was headed downward along with many other retailers but has managed to right itself and is in the midst of a two-year to four-year turnaround. Especially impressive was Penneys performance in the midst of 2001s economic and security upheaval. Operations recorded comparable store sales gains in eight of the 11 months through December and 3.7 percent gain during the combined November-December holiday period. Former longtime employee Donna Martin is glad for more than one reason. Not only did she work there, she still owns stock and wants the company to succeed. It still has a soft place in my heart, said Martin, now director of institutional advancement at Bowling Green Technical College. She worked in the stores retail division while attending Western Kentucky University in 1970 through 1972. After leaving in 1972 for an internship at Pushins, another downtown department store, Penneys asked her to come back the following year. Penneys was looking to hire women in management positions, Martin said. They came and said wed like to have you back, so I went back and started in Penneys management program. I really fell into a wonderful job and it was such a wonderful opportunity in that they were promoting women in management. Martin moved up the ranks to senior merchandising manager and helped open stores in Lexington, Madisonville and Columbia, Tenn., before leaving in 1986. She credits her experience with helping develop her professional career. All of our training has really helped us in our positions that we have now leadership roles and being able to relate to others and how to get things communicated and done, Martin said.