The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1916-08-24

| more ana more llultlHS lue DlS OppOI
tunities; the managers who once made
$4,000 to $4,000 and rode in theil
own motor cars down to work are re
placed by $4,000 to $1,000 men.
The practice among the dry-goods
and clothing chains is different ir
many respects from that Of Other
kinds of chains. You can't standard
ize a clothing store in the same way
you can cigar store, or, perhaps, s
| drug store. The clothing store has toe
much of the style element in it. Hence
the responsibility, efficiency and 10y
atty needed in clothing store mana
ger If unusual returns are to be hoped
for can generally be purchased more
cheaply through partnership than
through salary. Penny had been taken
into partnership himself. At any rate
the idea of this kind of cooperation
naturally doomed large in his calcula
tons. 1t was not new, but he added
something to it that was new and big
Hired Only Prospective Partners.
He said: Il will hire no one to work
in my store who has not the capacity
to become a partner. We will have an
understanding to that effect when !
hire man. He will understand that
in a year or two years, or as soon as
he has proven his ability, he will be.
come a partner in that or some other
store. l will give him a third or more
interest and he shall pay for it out of
his earnings.
I'm this way shall be able to get a
better class of men and get better
service from them. And l shall not
have to pay them in salary any more
than would pay for mediocre help.
1T is true that | shall have to sac
riice something in the way of pros
pective profits in chain of stores by
sharing them with series of partners,
but on the other hand it is plain that
such system as propose will supply
me with an inexhaustible number of
capable men whom l could get in no
other way, and who will make my for
tune in return for my promotion Of
theirs.
Moreover, the sacrifice that I ina
CINE myself as making is after all only
apparent. Who knows if l shall real
ly be able to succeed on a large scale
by my own efforts? l do not perceive
any other clothing merchants in the
small towns growing wealthy in that
way. The only hope of expansion lies
in organization and cooperation. The
leaders of the future in this field are
young men now, still on salary, and
scattered through a hundred towns.
We shall gain more by making COM
mon cause than by competing against
one another"
But there was still another idea.
When Mr. Penney's first partner, D.
II. Mudd, had put the second store on
a successful basis, he was encouraged
by Mr.. Penney to open third store, in
1908, and put in one of the men he had
trained as manager. This manager be.
came third partner with Mr.. Penney
and Mr.. Mudd, Mr.. Penney furnishing
the capital and taking notes for it.
In the course of time the third man.
ager.partner opened store and put
one Of his own men into it as mana ger
and partner. He also took third in
terest and Mr.. Mudd a third. AS IL
had been decided to limit the number
of partners in any one store to three,
Mr.. Penney stayed out of the arrange
ment altogether, though, as before, he
furnished the capital and took his as
sociates' notes.
While this was going On Mr.. Penney
himself was taking an interest in 9th.
er stores being opened by other man.
ayers he had trained. His first part
ner was doing the same with his train
ed men. In each case, Mr.. Penney be-
came partner in the first store of Mr..
Mudd's new chain, and gave way to
new man in the next store. And in
the same way in due time Mr.. Mudd
gave way and dropped out of that par
ticular sub-chain, but continued to
start other stores with other manager
partners, Mr.. Penney as before be-
coming partner in each of these and
dropping out when these manager
partners developed new managers.
The plan was for each store to have
only three partners, the earliest part
ner or highest man to drop out when a
new one came in with the new store.
Each partner in this way was suppos.
ed to be always starting new chains or
sub-chains of his own, though the ear.
lier partners have been longer at it
and been perhaps more energetic and
are therefore interested in more stores.
Mr.. Penney thus has an interest, gen.
orally minority interest, in 100 of the
.z5 stores; his associates in ten, Is,
20 stores, and so on.
All Hunting Partners
Mr.. Penney, you thus see, was not
the only one interested in finding part
ners. Every other partner, too, was
looking for promising partner-materi-
al. They went after the exceptional
men everywhere and laid the Golden
Rule proposition before them. The
salary was low, but at the end of from
one to four or five years, depending on
the ability Of the man, he would be
taken into partnership, and be loaned
$4,000 or $4,000, which he would be
able to pay back in two years or less
for his share of the profits of the store,
and then find himself in a position to
take on other stores.
Every one of the young men assocl-
ated with Mr.. Penney for any time is
partner in several stores and is
drawing his share of the $4,000 or S.
600 or more each store nets annually.
Many of the men gave up salaries of