The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-17
A BIG MERCHANTS IDEAS
JOHN wANAMAxER TALKS OF AD-
VERTIsING AND BUSINESS METHODS,
And Also of the Commercial Outlook
The Tariff, the Department Store
and Little Merchants.

Washington to Philadelphia to have an in
terview with Mr. John Wanamaker.
wanted his ideas OF advertising, business
! methods and of the condition of the times
for the readers of this paper. had no APP
pointment with Mr.. Wanamaker, but
knew him while he was postmaster general,
and was sure that if l could get access to
him he would talk. He is, however, a very
busy man. He is, you know, the biggest
merchant in the United States, if not in
the world Since he bought the establish
ment which originally founded by A.
I. Stewart in New York he. has more than
doubled his mercantile interests. His store
here in Philadelphia handles tens of mil
lions of dollars worth of goods a year, and
it's profits foot up, 1 have been told, more
| than million dollars every twelve months.
He has four thousand clerks here under one
roof, and his interests reach out to every
country of Europe and to every part of the
United States. He is one of the great adj
vertisers Of the world. I have heard it said
that the man who writes his daily letter
about new goods for the newspapers re-
| ceives salary of $4,000 year, and that he
| pays each Of the Philadelphia papers from
two to four thousand dollars month for
advertising. Mr.. Wanamaker supervises al
most the whole of his interests himself, and
| it goes without saying that he has plenty
| to do.
HOW I GOT TO MR.. WANAMAKER
Men who do business of such proportions
are usually hard to reach. They are be-
sieged by cranks and beggars, and did they
| not guard their leisure they would have no
time for work. STILL saw Mr.. Wanamaker.
The journey 1 took in getting to see him
was an interesting one. One of the clerks
&D1I Al.
| to little corner room on the second floor
Here found a white-haired old man and
brown-haired young boy The old man
| must have been seventy; the young boy did
not look to be more than seven The old
man made think of Methodist deacon.
He was one of Mr. Wanamakers confidential
| secretaries. He told me that he did not
think I could see Mr.. Wanamaker at all
that afternoon, although he thought he was
somewhere about the store. I urged my case
| and the old gentleman finally said that he
would present the matter to Mr. Jones' A
| moment later Mr.. Jones came in. Mr.. Jones
| is the second confidential secretary of Mr.
Wanamaker. Like the first secretary he is
a man of mature years and of clerical as
| pect His beard is as long as that of Aaron,
| and his face is as somber as that of Moses
| en- calf. Mr.. Jones decided that 1 might
possibly be of interest to Mr.. Wanamaker.
| He called the young boy and told him to
| take to the ante-room of the office of
the great merchant, and to give my card to
the young lady in charge. The young boy
| went with me. 1t was almost a Sabbath
| days journey from Mr.. Wanamakers public
| office to the little private den which forms
| his real work shop. We walked through
| rows of counters to the opposite corner of
| the building, took the elevator and finally
away up under the roof, next to a long
| hall filled with bookkeepers, 1 was shown
| into little room, and my card was left
| with Mr.. Wanamaker's private secretary.
| This private secretary was a young lady.
| She was more attractive person than the
| confidential secretaries at the other end of
| the building. She was, in fact, quite pretty
| but exceedingly reticent. She told me that
Mr.. Wanamaker had just stepped out, but
that in all probability he would soon step
| in. She asked me to wait. / waited. I
waited an hour. Other people came in and
waited too, but most of them got tired and
left. I continued to wait until at last I
| heard quick step go UP the hail. and the
door of the room beyond opened The step
was that of Mr.. Wanamaker. Mr.. Wanna
maker at last was in. The question with me
now was. was he in for me- The young
| lady took my card and left the room.
moment later she returned, and said that
| Mr.. Wanamaker would see me. I entered
| the room, and a moment after that was
| chatting with one of the biggest merchants
| Of the United States.
| WANAMAKER AT SIXTY.
| Mr. Wanamaker's private Office is not
more than 1Ox12 in size. He does his work
| at a little $25 desk, crowded up under the
| window so that the light falls over his right
| shoulder, as he sits there looking over the
| figures of each days business. He rose, and
| as we shook hands 1 could not see that he
| looked day older than when he was post
master general.
| STILL he is now in his sixteth year. and
he has been in active business life for more
| than a generation. He has few wrinkles
and does not look hurried or worried. AS
| / shook hands with him I remarked upon
| his freshness and said to him that he did
not seem to be overworked He replied:
mo; am not overworked. Still, 1 have
plenty to do. have to spend a part of
each week in New York. l get reports
from my New York store every morning
| ard the business of two establishments is
| of course greater than one"
II suppose your business extends to the
| whole country, Mr.. Wanamaker, does it
not?'
NO" was the reply, cit is largely local
| The business of any great store must be
near home. My chief customers are within
a radius of one hundred miles of New York
and Philadelphia. OF course, we sell some
| goods by mail, but the real business is made
! up of the goods which we sell across the
| counters"
Il should think Mr.. Wanamaker, that
| this store would have been large enough
for one man. You have made great sue
cess here. Why did you add to your work
by buying the establishment in New York?''
why do we do anything?" said the mer-
chant. 1T is hard to tell. l can only say
1 saw that there was an opening for such
store as l have in New York. l took it,
not that / wanted to compete with the
other merchants there but that l might
succeed in satisfying the demand which l
thought existed. l was right. The store has
| done better than l expected"
NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING.
MIR. Wanamaker you are one of the
largest advertisers of the country. l have
noticed that you keep your advertisements
running during the hard times. Many Of
the merchants have let them drop. Does it
pay TO advertise when times are hard?'
Il certainly think So" replied Mr.. Wanna
maker. when the times are hard and peo-
pie are not buying is the very time that adj