Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-05-24

this success has been attained are simple
enough. as the methods of ali great enter
prises necessarily are. The watchwords
Of the business are, veracity, courtesy
and accommodation, and these are made
effective throughout the establishment by
means of organization, order and disci-
pline. Veracity gives accurate informa
tion as to the quantity. quality and char
acter of every article dealt in, not leaving
it to the keen bargainer to get the better
Of the unsophisticated, but putting each
on the sure foundation Of knowing exactly
what they arc getting. If a piece Of goods
is part cotton and part wool, it is not only
stated, but the proportion of each is given,
and SO with everything that crosses the
counters.
Courtesy treats all alike with kindness
and polite attention, old and young, rich
and poor, friends and strangers, the buyer
of paper Of pins or of a ten thousand
dollar trousseau, or Of nothing at all. And
this is another matter not left to chance,
but in every department ladies and gen
tlemen arc in waiting, whose Office it is to
welcome visitors and to extend to them
any aid, assistance or information within
their power to bestow.
Accommodation offers to the buyer the
very thing wanted at the lowest possible
price, and offers, furthermore, every pos
sible facility for supplying the want
quickly, easily and conveniently. In ev-
cry one of the many lines of goods repre-
sented skilled superintendents are coll
stantly on the watch to keep up 4 full sup
ply in each detail of the stock, in each
grade, and in every form, size, color and
quality of each known to trade. In every
line of goods there are Out-Of-tlie-way
items which only one customer in hun
dred thousand will ever want, and there
fore no ordinary store pretends to keep
such things always in stock, but the hum
dred thousand customers call at the
Grand Depot every few days, and there
fore the stock must include everything
that can be called for.
Another point to note in the aspect of
the business is that the extent of the trade
in foreign goods, amounting to millions of
dollars annually, enables Mr.. Wanamaker
to retain the services of a resident buyer
in Europe, this being the only strictly re-
tail house ever enjoying such an advantage.
The experienced expert who represents
the establishment abroad deals directly
with manufacturers, and original pack
ages from France, from Germany, from
England, rs put up at the factory, are
shipped straight to the Grand Depot and
opened to supply the consumers, passing
through no other hands on the way. The
foreign buyer, being always in the mar
ket, and purchasing in the largest lots
not only secures the lowest prices ut which
goods can be made, but is kept advised of
the best patterns, tho latest designs and
the newest products, oftentimcs securing
tho entire manufacture of novelties in
choice and desirable fabrics.
Accommodation, furthermore, extends
to tho customer the privilege Of returning
purchases if found in any way unsatisfac-
tory, the purchase money being promptly
and unhesitatinsly refunded if desired.
The common and trying experience of
finding that goods do not look quite the
same at home rs they did in the store,
and arc not, after all, just what the buyer
wanted, Is the source Of one half the
trouble and annoyance connected with
shopping. At the Grand Depot this
trouble is entirely done away with, shop
pcrs there being, permitted to enjoy the
liberal satisfaction of knowing that they
are certain to bc suited or to have their
money refunded, and this not rs Il special
'asso1s uut sso p.tA VI GiIO SyStCiIl VI lIltk
ing the supply of personal and family re-
Iuircments as easy, rs economical. anG as
pleasant rs possible.
Another advantage offered in the same
direction is the saving of time and trouble
in supplying all wants under one roof.
There is none of the wearincss of posting
about from street to street, and running
down town, and across town, and back
again, so trying to strength and patience,
and SO costly in time and temper, cspec-
tally in bad weather. s,lcl. as often occurs
during the spring and autumn sllOppin.
seasons. Here evcrythingis at hand and
accessible without going beyond the doors.
The business Of the Grand Depot now in
cludes the furnishing of everything except
provisions and fuel that man. woman or
child can desire for comfort, convenience
~ atlornment. From infancy to age all
the incidents and all the accidents of life
rcprOvided for in this marvellous store
house of the products OF mans industry
and skill gathered from the four quarters
of the globe. All the wants Of persons,
in all classes and conditions, have here
been anticipated, not only in one form,
but in many forms, so that buyers find
not only just the article they look for, but
4 variety Of corresponding articles from
which to make .judicious selections.
What is there that human beings. boys
or girls, men or women, old or young, rich
or poor, can ask for that they cannot tud
III some one Of the torty-siX principal de-
partmcnts Of the Grand Depot?
The Original Building.
The premises originally consisted of the
Pennsylvania freight depot, long deserted.
1t wasa substantial structure, but diIapi-
dated in appearance, having Il double
pitched roof, descending from height of
about thirty feet at the ridge to about ten
feet at the caves. The building had u front
of two hundred feet on Market street,
broken by great doorways, where the car
tracks ran in. 1t was supplemented by
four story brick freight Office on the Tliir-
teenth street corner, and by three truss
roof additions running from Thirteenth to
Juniper street, on Kelly street.
This property was bought by Mr. Wan
amlakcr i'll 1879, and after eifccting neces-
sary alterations the business was opened in
1876 with 4 stock Of clothing. From this
inception the development of the Grand
Depot has been uninterrupted and ,lnrrec-
edentedly rapid, the traffic extending in
new directions every day and increasing
at the rate of millions of dollars annually.
until now it ranks as the largest retailing
establishment in the country. This unex-
alnp!ed enlargement has made constant
changes in the premises an absolute ne
cessity, and there has hardly been sccu-
lar day in the five years since 1876 but
what artisans and mechanics have been at
work in some part Of the place. It has
been idly said that Mr.. Wanamakcr kent
men ut work making alterations for the