Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-04-25
NO. SO

cularly large wages and he held them
to strict accountability. He insisted
upon courtesy. 1.-THE customer Is al
ways right" was one Of his doctrines.
Never forget that He or she is right
whether she is or not"
Once or twice or thrice q year he
would shoot a telegram to everyone
in his hundred or more stores in Amer
lea and have the same thing done In
his fifty or sixty or more stores In
Canada, England or elsewhere, and
this is about the way the messages
would read:
Good morning. Did you say Good
morning" to each customer this morn
ing
Mr.. Woolworth had an admiration
for Napoleon that was little short Of
a passion. His Office was furnished In
exact duplication Of one OF Bonaparte's
favorite rooms. He purchased Napol-
comic relics wherever he could get
them and he read and reread the life
Of the Little Corporal with more In
terest than any other volumes In his
library. His friends said he liked to
believe he had some of the character.
istics Of the great Corsican. He cer-
tainly had the gift for organization
that was Napoleon's, but Woolworth
was at times a merchant and only a
merchant, while Napoleon had trans
cendent ability in many lines.
1t is said Wbolworth was one Of the
first merchants Of America to make q
study Of traffic density. Formerly 1t
was the custom for a merchant to de-
pend on hi9 judgment as to the choice
Of location for his store. A good many
years ago Woolworth began 'measur-
ing" the volume Of the human tide and
the character of its elements before he
decided upon leasing or buying q
store. He endeavored also to keep
track accurately Of the traffic charges
in all cities Of consequence. An excel
lent location meant success. A fair
location meant small profit A poor
location meant failure. He wanted no
failures. In every branch Of his busi-
ness he tried to bo as exact, as certain
Of good results as humanity possible.
He and all great purchasers like
him carnc in for bitter criticism at
times. No doubt, by taking the entire
output of factories for year or more,
they were able, by reason Of having
shunted off the manufacturers former
customers, to dictate to the manufac-
turer as to production costs and, not
infrequently, reduce him to suheervt-
ency in them, That was q vicious
practice.
There was criticism, too, Of the In
Justice to small town merchants OF
such competition as that Of the chain
store. Mr.. Woolworth felt this criti-
cism keenly. He had been q struggl-
ing storekeeper and knew the trials OF
the man of small capital, but he SAID
there was no escape from economic
law and the small merchant wh'
could not stand against the force d
competition had to succumb. II 1t was
not Woolworth it would be someone
else he would havs-to combat sAssss
There was amazement when Wool
worth opened a and 10 cent store on
Fifth avenue, New York, opposite the
library Some Of his friends asked
him If he was not making a mistake;
If he was not paying too high a rent;
if he could get patronage sufficient In
| such a neighborhood, etc.
He smiled. I've been studying that
location for five years." he said.
ut Is one of the cheapest sites
I ever have obtained. The business
will be immense. The site will i'm
prove year by year. Fifth avenue Is
| changing. It is going to be more and
more a thoroughfare Of business. Its
traffic density will increase steadily.
So far his prediction has been veri-
| fed. The and 10 cent store In the
| center of the Avenue Of Fashion has
been a small gold mine.
Woolworth had more than 1000
stores in America and more than 400
in Canada and Europe.
He had many imitators. but no real
rival.
The pride Of his life was the Wool
worth building. His pride was 5usti.
fed. It is the greatest temple of bus
mess in the world and one Of the most
beautiful structures in the western
hemisphere. 1t is an inspiration not
only in it's classical lines Of archatec-
tural beauty, but in the towering evil
dence It furnishes OF the power OF one
man. one idea and one cent.