PotW 11/20/12

Good morning, All!
 
Along with everyone else, I am scrambling to get ready for the big eat on Thursday, so I thought I would re-share this Thanksgiving-related story: 

(If you recall this story from its original 2009 distribution, GOOD FOR YOU!  Pat yourself on the back and scroll to the bottom for a special announcement*)

 
Our tale began over 170 years ago, on the island of Nantucket in a small, family-owned shop.  The young hero of our story, Rowland, though from a comfortably prosperous Quaker family, was determined to strike his own path in life, and at the age of 15, left his father's business and set sail aboard one of the many whaling ships that called Nantucket home.
 
After 4 years at sea, during which time he acquired a tattoo that we have all seen-- (I'll get to that later), he returned to Nantucket and worked in his father's shop for 3 years, until the tired of island life and moved to Boston.  There he opened his own needle and thread store, which soon went bankrupt.  Determined not to return home and to make his own way beyond the confines of Nantucket, he tried selling dry goods, but this store, too, went bankrupt.  Grudgingly, he worked briefly in his brother-in-law's Boston shop, but fled to California when the gold rush began in 1849.
 
Finding no wealth out West, and having lost a substantial amount of money on a land investment scheme in Wisconsin, Rowland returned to Massachusetts in 1851 and in partnership with his brother, opened a dry goods store. The store was a modest success, but Rowland was soon bored with small town living, and moved to New York City, where he opened a small shop in a low-rent neighborhood, a fair distance from the prosperous retail district of town.
 
Rowland's store became known for its then-innovative policy of marking prices on items rather than haggling with customers, and advertised its prices in eye-catching newspaper ads which featured the store's logo--a replica of Rowland's tattoo (more on that in just a bit).  Shrewd with public relations, Rowland made sure that reporters learned that he had promoted a floor saleswoman to the position of Store Manager in 1866, making her the first woman to hold an executive post with a major American retailer.  In another clever marketing move, Rowland employed the first in-store Santa Claus, and is credited with making Christmas a major retail event in the U.S.  By the late 1860's, the store's sales were thousands of dollars per day.
 
By the time of his death in 1877 at the age of 55, Rowland's store had added multiple product lines to its offerings and had bought up 10 neighboring buildings, creating what was dubbed the first "department store". 
 
In 1896, Rowland's business was purchased by the Straus brothers, who moved the store 20 blocks uptown.  There, it continued to grow and prosper, again buying up surrounding properties until it occupied all of a single city block...almost.  You see, there is a little brownstone whose owners refused to sell out as the retail giant gobbled up everything around them, instead negotiating a VERY lucrative annual lease with the retailer that continues to this day.  If you've ever been to Rowland's store, you know exactly where this little brownstone hold-out is, even if you don't realize it.  It's hidden behind a giant banner with Rowland's tattoo (more on that very soon!) and the words "The World's Largest Store". 
 
So Thursday, when you are stuffing your turkey and watching the Under Dog balloon as he rounds the corner into Herald Square--where you see the large banner with the Red Star (Rowland's tattoo)--feel free to go all "Cliff Clavin" and amaze your family with this bit of retail trivia about Macy's department store and what lies behind the banner!
  

 Until next week-- Listen to "Alice's Restaurant", count your blessings and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Kim

www.twowillowsjewelry.com

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