mccall, i'm not sure which jc penney pans you looked at, but Gourmet Standard used to make some pans for them. They're the ones whose pots are sold by KA Flour on their website, and these are made in China, so not AC, as far as i know.

My sister has the JCP Cook's pans and swears they are as good as the All Clad and much less expensive.

Hi mccall, another poster put up some info about this line, i assume it's the same one you're talking about. see my link...

Here is a link that might be useful: thread on Penney's cookware