Penney's offers Spanish circular

J.C. Penney Company, embracing the American Latino market, this month published its first Spanish-language circular for the Miami area. Census figures show 40 percent of the population there is Spanish-speaking.

The company has also circulated 200,000 copies of its Spanish catalog guides elsewhere in the US. In Miami and Los Angeles, J. C. Penney takes phone orders through Spanish-speaking operators.

The new emphasis is partly a result of Penney's appointing Patricia Asip as national coordinator of Latino marketing programs two years ago. Census figures show there are nearly 20 million Latinos in the US - a figure that could double in 30 years.

Penney's also sponsors programs on Spanish-language TV. ''They want their translations to be ethnically understandable as well as factual,'' one ad executive said of the company.