Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1921-01-14
PENNEY'S PLAN WONDER
FOR COOPERATION
Real Success in Business Has Never
Yet Been Obtained Except
by Real Sacrifice.

Noou AiouSeheepluS LOT OCtuUeI
has an article describing the wonder
full success OF the j. c. Penney chain
OF stores, and gives the high lights
In the plan of organization which
makes it a success. The following
excerpts will give the gist OF the
Penney plan.
The employer who picks men
by an advertisement which promises
long hours, hard work and small
living salary must be sure Of the
kind Of man he wants
By the same token he must know
OF wives who make successes Of that
kind Of men, for the man who means
business after he answers such all
advertisement, and can prove it TO
man who is keen judge of human
nature, often has a wife who can help
him in his work. AS a matter Of fact,
Mr.. J. c. Penney. the employer back
OF the unusual want advertisement.
has some pretty definite ideas about
the kind of women who have the men
who have helped make his business
a tremendous success. For there is
nothing tricky about the advertise.
ment. Last year Mr.. Penney inter-
viewed over Ave thousand applicants
who had sensed opportunity back Of
the appeal for men, and from them
he picked one hundred who will
eventually become his partners-if
they and their wives stand the test
ing process. This process is a severe
one. Real success in business" says
Mr.. Penney, has never yet been
obtained except through real sacri-
fice," adding what is the keynote OF
his business creed, that "in making
present sacrifices for future success
a wife must be the real partner of
her husband.
Often people make broad general
statements about self-sacrifice. but in
this case 1t comes from real expert
ence and not theory. The man who
makes this statement was born on a
little farm in Missouri, the seventh
of twelve children. His father was
a preacher. At the age of nine he
entered the list Of capitalists with one
Berkshire hog. His next venture was
in watermelons, and they paid a
profit. When he was nineteen he
went to work in a general store. re-
ceiving twenty-five dollars for eleven
months work. His willingness to do
the hard, day-in-and-day-out work,
such as washing windows, busting.
sweeping, and some Of the old homely
things which are considered above
lots of peoples capabilities today,
brought results, and the second year
when he was promoted to a 5000
salary, and when he left to seek
better health in Colorado, he was
getting $25 a month. When he had
saved $500 and most of that from
the hardest kind Of self-sacrifice, he
borrowed $500 more and bough:
a third interest in a little store in
Kemmerer. Wyoming. 1t was there
that the present big organization
started. He lived right over the
store. Beds, chairs, and tables were
made OF dry-goods boxes. There
were no luxuries on the table or any
where else, but in five years he had
paid of his total Indebtedness and
bought little home. His wife. in
this hard struggle, certainly knew
what self-sacrifice meant. Together
they helped build a kitchen addition
made of dry-goods boxes. The next
step was when, by some more self.
sacrifice, he bought out his first part.
ner. Next. his one little store grew
into more, and soon the chain was
started. which at present consists Of
297 stores. with more to come.
Men with wives who want luxur.
ious surroundings are not the kind
who either answer the personal adj
vertisement or come through the first
interview with Mr.. Penney.
II try to make our offer as at
tractive as possible" he says, "as q
real test of the man. paint for him
a picture of the dull little town in
which he may have to live. I tell
him there is hard work ahead, that
it will be small salary at first, to
which he and his wife will have tc
adapt their living conditions. Every
thing, except the chance Of real part
nership in the future, is made as little
tempting as possible. The only kind
of man l want in my business is the
one who is willing and able to fit his
mind definitely on the ultimate goal
ahead, and who is willing to pay tie
present price for a future executive
position as an actual partner in his
own business. In this giving of q
definite goal in life, his wife is of
the greatest possible assistance to
her husband. AS a matter of fact
II has been my experience that q