The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-17
SETH LOW IN BUSINESS.
sPEEDILY BROUoH HIT TO GRIEF TIE
GREAT HOUSE HIS FATHER Built.

hIbNNN ~ 49,
what Kind or y Business Mnn Ho Was
A vers Remarkable Demonstration OF PrHc-
teal Incnpacity and Deficiency OF Judgment
II tho first Mayor Of the Greater New York
should be a man possessing tho qualihcatiohs
necessary to carry on sue, essfully n great ousi-
ness enterprise. then Seth Low is not the man
for tho office. That is the notion one gets very
decidedly from studying his career as a business
man, after he entered the firm of A. A. Low u
Brother, tea merchants Of Burling slip.
Eyerybody who knows the tea trade. and
many who don't, knows that for many years A. A.
Low & Brother did tho largest business In this
country az importers and wholesalers Of teas.
They owned their own ships, had agents in
every ten mart Of the world, and they mado
a great amount OF money. The head OF the firm
was Seth Lows father. It is said Of him that
he could see as far into a business proposition
and Judge as we'll OF its outcome rs any man OF
HIS time. He made the fortune q part OF which
made Seth Low q rich man.
About 1870, Seth Low, having finished his
college course, entered his fathers business
a. a clerk. and in 1875 was admitted as a part
nor. He had shown ability to acquire and re-
tain book knowledge, and his father was proud
Of him. The elder Low hoped that his son would
develop those business traits which would en-
able him one day to take tho cares and rcspon-
abilities of his fathers shoulders and maintain
the prestige OF tho frm. He was pushed to the
front. Like many young men he wanted to be
"boss, "and his father was willing to crafty his
sons desire. After a time the old gentleman
retired from the active management of the firm
and Seth Low became tho directing spirit Of
the concern. Ono OF the oldest tea merchants
in tho city said:
"whcn old Mr.. Low retired, the business Of
the firm WAS booming. In less than a year after
- -.t.- 49, ..- fll 90
to such an extent that the young man got
scared. Try as he would, he couldn't make tho
business. which, until hc took hold OF it, had re-
turned great profits every year. pay. Something
had to be done. and the young man finally hit
upon what he thought was a great scheme.
1.-THE trouble was that he couldn't find q
profitable market for his stocks. He reasoned
that il he could only find more purchasers he
would be all right. The firm had a big name, and
he concluded that IL no could only get right in
touch with the consumers of tea he'd find
abundant market for his wares. He believed
that If tea drinkers could only get the A A. Low
g. Brother teas without much trouble, they
would buy nothing else.
80 he, opened what were called A. A. Low &
Brother tea stores all over the country. There
were more A. A. Low tea stores in Brooklyn.
for instance, than there were baby carriages.
The scheme was to sell the Low teas ut retail,
ard nothing else. All Of these stores were gor-
geously fitted up. or course, i don't know what
the fixtures cost, but remembering how elabo-
rate some of the stores were, I believe I would
rather have endowed Columbia College than
have paid the bills for fitting up these stores.
"Once fitted up. they were stocked. and then
the advertising began. The people were told all
about the scheme in the newspapers Of every
town where q store had been opened. Every
thing want alNn1 ayvip,pnipp1v arcoDt tho a.lo ne
the teas. i don't believe young Seth sold enough
goods to pay his advertising bills, to say nothing
Of his other expenses. Somehow or other the
populace whom he was trying to do a good thing
for then. as now. didn't enthuso over his teas
any more than they enthuse over him as q can
didate for Mayor.
And yet Seth couldn't see why the scheme
didn't pay. TIL reason he couldn't see was be.
cause he had not then and never has had real
good common sense. He didn't understand the
people and their needs. That was the whole
trouble. Now. everybody in the tea trade knew
the A. A. Low teas. They knew where they
came. from. how they came. what their quality
was. and all about it. That was trade knowl.
edge. But what did the general public know OF
IT. Nothing, and they cared less. You pick up
o morning paper, other than THE SUN, and you
read . certain article. because you happen to
know the man on the paper who wrote 1t and
you know he usually writes cleverly. I'll pick
up the same paper and the chances are I'll moi
read the article at all. From the headlines
don't think I'll DO interested and I skip it.
don't know and 1 don't care who wrote 1t.
THAT was the way with the public and Seth
Lows tea stores. The Low teas might DO very
good. but John Smith OF Oshkosh had been In
the habit of buying his tea of Jones. the grocer
Jones's oolong or English breakfast tea wa
good enough for Smith. He didn't care a raj
who imported the tea, SO long as 1t was good
and he continued to buy of Jones. Possibl,
Jones bought hardware of Smith. A. A. Low 8
!. Brother bought nothing of Smith, and Smitl
continued to patronize Jones.
"I don't remember how long Low kept tn
thine-a year or two. I would say, perhap
longer. At any rate. he stood the drain. or tn
Arm did. az long as possible and then all III
stores were suddenly closed. Nobody eve
know, Of course, just how much the firm lost
but 1t was the common talk of the trade that
was Q big pile of money. Later. you know
other men did the same thing, and they hav
grown rich out of it. There are three or fou
tea companies which have retail stores all owe
the country, and the companies are maxim
money. If Seth Lew had had the business abilit
of the men behind these companies he woul
probably have made the thing go. There seem
TO DO no reason why he shouldn't. At any rat
speculation aside, the cold fact remains tina
others have made fortunes in the field In whic
Beth Low sunk one.
Failing In that. he tried another scheme. II
went into the open market here and bought tea
ct auction. Then he would paste sheets of papt
over the fronts OF the chests to cover up tt
marks indicating the brand, put them back Int
the auction rooms, and sell them over agail
The object Of covering up the marks was
make 1t impossible for brokers and dealers
trace the teas. You know In the trade we kee
close tabs on all teas that are bought and sol
This we can do by the marks on the chests.
Low. for instance. bought a chest Of tea
Brown and sold 1t to Ferguson without cove
ing up tho mark. some broker would recoRnii
the tea and know what Low paid for 1t. Kno,
ing that, and knowing the price in tho nuctic
room that Low got for 1t, he would go to Fc
guson and say:
"'see here. Ferguson, you've Just bought
chest Of Young Hyson from Low. 1t cost 20
30 cents. Low bought that OF Brown for 2
cents. Had Won given me the ord ar 7 couId hax