Page 22 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

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OHN WANAMAKER had saved $1,900; his brother-in-law, Nathan Brown,
had $1,600 that he was willing to risk in a partnership. “Why not begin?” said
Wanamaker to his brother-in-law. He figured that any time was a good time
to begin—provided you really did begin. Business conditions were bad—the
national depression, that had followed the closing of many banks in 1857,
had caused unemployment, low wages, and the demoralization of
manufacturers and wholesalers. Philadelphia, especially, was saturated in
gloom. It was 1861, the threshold of the Civil War. However, Wanamaker’s
mind had been made up and in February, 1861, he signed a lease that put his
store into business. At 23 he was ready to assume the responsibilities of a
business, regardless of national affairs, business conditions, or the well-meant
advice of friends who had tried to discourage him from the undertaking.

The store fixtures cost $375 and some clothing fabrics $739. The store
opened April 8, but little was sold for several days. Plenty of people passed
the store, but very few entered it. Then the books showed an entry of $24.67
worth of “gentlemen’s collars, cuffs and neckties,” sold April 18. In the
meantime the $3,500 which John Wanamaker and his brother-in-law had
scraped together was fast disappearing. It was just a question of how much
longer they could hang on.

Fortunately, there was an opportunity to buy the stock of a clothing
manufacturer who was nervous over the effect which the war might have on
business. Wanamaker took over the stock on thirty days’ dating and invested
all the money he had left—$24—in six advertisements in the Philadelphia
newspapers. This happened on April 27, 1861. The advertisements did what
was expected of them and the entire stock was sold in two weeks.

From then on the business grew, under the Wanamaker policy of putting
every dollar that could be spared into advertising. By 1869 Wanamaker &
Brown were the largest retail dealers in men’s clothing in the United States.
With the death of Nathan Brown, John Wanamaker & Company was
organized to do a general business. Today it is one of the great stores of the
world, and a monument to faith in advertising.