Old Copper Co. Inc. (f/k/a CPPRQ/JCPNQ JC Penney)

[Theo]

"The Street" has already begun to extrapolate: Here Are Black Friday's Biggest Winners and Losers

Winners

J.C. Penney

Absurdly early Thanksgiving Day openings and stores that stayed open around the clock into Black Friday once again worked wonders for J.C. Penney's (JCP) cash registers.

For the second straight year, J.C. Penney swung open its doors at 3 p.m. on Turkey Day at over 1,000 stores nationwide while mall rivals Macy's and Sears (SHLD) stuck to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. respective Black Friday openings. J.C. Penney's stores stayed open through the night and into Black Friday morning, too.

Similar to last year, J.C. Penney was rewarded for its decision to open early and work late with lines snaking around the insides of its stores across the country. When finally inside, shoppers frantically scooped up $20 St. John's Bay puffer jackets, discounted home goods, $19.99 boots and $9 sweaters.

"There are about 600 people waiting outside, more than last year," said a J.C. Penney associate who worked the first shift of the day, and whom TheStreet interviewed inside a Long Island, N.Y., store ahead of the Thanksgiving opening.

Said J.C. Penney chairman and CEO Marvin Ellison in a statement on Friday, "It's clear that customers made J.C. Penney their first choice for Black Friday shopping this year and in fact, we saw record-breaking online and mobile traffic with no service interruptions." He added, "the holiday season is just beginning, but we are highly encouraged that our customer feels confident to shop."

Without question, J.C. Penney has pulled out all the stops to win the holiday season, going so far as to replace thousands of antiquated cash registers in order to get shoppers checked out faster. So far, the efforts have paid dividends.