The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1922-08-03
The Evolution
of Merchandising
The Passing of the Small Store.


The New York Times says: Twen-
ty years ago J. G. Penny opened a
general store in Kemmerer, small
| Wyoming town. In the first year Of
| it's existence it did business of
nearly $4,000. This spring the J.
C. Penney Company, of which Mr..
Penny is the founder and chairman
of the board of directors, issued
| single check for S1,671,693.51 in
| payment for shoes it had bought, and
this check covered only part Of the
company's purchases from a single
manufacturing concern. Shoes were
bought from several other manufac-
| turers as we'll.
+ Mention is made of the check re-
| ferred to, the largest yet drawn by
| the company, because it typifies the
| growth of the business in the twenty
years that have passed since the
first store was opened. Other indi-
cations of it's rapid growth are that
the company now owns and operates
313 stores, located in twenty-seven
different states, and that steps are
being taken to open fifty-eight addi-
tional establishments during 1922.
The store that so far has been opened
nearest to the city is located at Am
sterdam, N. Y. Last year the total
business done by the company was
approximately s46,642,000 and, ac-
cording to an estimate made yester-
day by Mr.. Penny, sales for 1922,
with the fifty-eight new stores in op-
Grafton, will reach about s55,00O,-
900.
Sixty per cent. of the buying of the
Penney company is done for the fall
season, and it is estimated that the
total business it will place this sea-
son will appropriate s20,000,000. In
addition, several million dollars
worth of goods have already been
bought for next spring. Excepting
for shoes, of which the company
makes quite a specially, the great
bulk of the merchandise it sells is
purchased in this city, where buying
and general offices are maintained at
37O Seventh Avenue. The shoe buy
ing is centered in St. Louis, and the
volume of the purchases is indicated
by the fact that the total shoe busi-
ness which the company expects to do
this year will reach about $11, ,OO0,-
600. The retail prices at which the
mems shoes are sold range from
s2.9S to $500, the general lines
handled including everything down
to infants goods.
The company does business on
strictly cash basis, both in selling and
buying, regardless of the size of the
order placed. Payments are made
three times month. No deliveries
are made of goods purchased by con-
sumers, which is a factor in keeping
down the already low overhead OF
the stores. One of the most distinc-
tive features of the company's selling
policy, however, is that no store in
the group is permitted to hold special
sales of any kind. The first price at
which the goods are offered are the
last price, and the executives of the
company say that, due to the low
cost of doing business, the first pric-
es are so low that no reductions
would be required to move the goods,
even if they were permitted.
Under the novel cooperative system
by which the company does it's busi-
ness, the manager of almost every
store owns a third interest in the
store he manages. Very often the
money with which to buy this inter-
est is advanced by the company, ana
the manager is also allowed to own
a third interest in as many other
stores as he has the ability to de-
velop. Large amounts of money are
distributed annually among the
saleswomen. The business of the
company, according to Mr.. Penny,
was founded on the Golden Rule,
and for some time the stores were
known as Golden Rule stores. While
this name is no longer used, he as
serted yesterday, the principles on
which the business was founded will
never be changed.