Page 19 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

partners. He was just the average small-town country boy. Was it luck? Not
at all. It was a combination of enthusiasm, vision, and singleness of purpose,
backed up by work. He admits that hard work alone will not bring you
success. But hard work and a definite goal will do the trick.

After clerking for some time in a store owned by T. M. Callahan and his
partner, young Penney was offered a chance to become a partner in the
business, with a new store to manage. His savings amounted to $500—not
nearly enough. But the two partners agreed to lend him the additional amount
needed at 8 per cent. However, Penney was shrewd for his years, so he
shopped around and found he could borrow the amount from a bank at 6 per
cent.

The new store opened April 14, 1902, with a capital of $6,000, a third of
which was Penney’s. It was a success from the start. The sales for the first
year amounted to $28,891.11 and Penney’s share of the profit was well over
$1,000. While the long hours and the incessant work connected with selling
customers and buying stock may have seemed like drudgery to many, it was
fun to Penney. Merchandising was his field. This was the work he wanted to
do, and here was the opportunity. All he needed was the energy to put the
business over, and he had plenty of that and to spare.

By 1904, J. C. Penney had opened his third store. It was about this time that
T. M. Callahan and his first partner decided to separate. They offered to sell
their interest in the three stores to Penney. He lacked the needed amount to
buy, but such was their confidence in him they accepted his note for $30,000.

The stores were known at this time as the Golden Rule stores. The unusual
idea J. C. Penney developed from the very beginning was the building of
managers. He built up his men and sent them out to open new stores. They in
turn likewise built up managers and sent them out to open still other new
stores. In this manner, each new store would accumulate enough capital to
start the next store. Each manager who opened a new store, of course, shared
in the profits of that store. Thus each man selected by J. C. Penney to branch
out developed not only business, but men to handle the business. Here was
the idea and the vision. One look at the recent sales figures, running well over