John Wanamaker

• Born: July 11, 1838
• Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Died: December 12, 1922
• Place of death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

American retail magnate

Wanamaker created the first modern department store. He was also a respected religious leader and philanthropist, donating thousands of dollars and several buildings to Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) chapters worldwide and funding the campaign for a national Mother’s Day.

Source of wealth: Retailing

Bequeathal of wealth: Children; charity

Early Life

John Nelson Wanamaker (WAHN-ah-may-kehr), the oldest of seven children, was born on July 11, 1838, in Philadelphia. His father, Nelson, owned a small brickyard. Young Wanamaker helped turn bricks out of molds so they could dry in the family’s backyard. He attended school for three years, starting at age nine. As a teenager, he worked in men’s clothing stores, becoming a manager by age nineteen. He quit this job for health reasons and spent his savings traveling the country. In 1858, Wanamaker became the secretary of the Philadelphia Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), earning $1,000 a year. Wanamaker married Mary Brown on September 27, 1860.

First Ventures

Wanamaker and his brother-in-law Nathan Brown each invested $2,000 to start Oak Hall, a men and boys’ clothing store. Their store opened on April 8, 1861, just days before the start of the Civil War. The store was small, located on the first floor of a building at Sixth and Market Streets in Philadelphia. The first day the partners sold $24.67 worth of merchandise. However, business improved after the two men acquired a contract to manufacture military and customs uniforms. Wanamaker and Brown also advertised special sales, a rare practice at the time. Customers were curious to test the honesty and accuracy of these advertisements. In its first year, Oak Hall’s total sales amounted to $24,125.62; by the end of the 1860’s, annual sales had climbed to more than $2 million.

Mature Wealth

A year after Brown died, Wanamaker opened a second store in Philadelphia under the name John Wanamaker and Company. In 1875, he purchased an abandoned train depot for $505,000 and began renovating it in January, 1876, so it could open as a store in time for the nation’s centennial celebration. Wanamaker focused his advertising for his Grand Depot store on out-of-town tourists. The two-acre store opened on May 6, 1876, four days before the centennial celebrations began.

In order to keep sales from falling, Wanamaker decided to create a new kind of store. In addition to men and boys’ clothing, the store began selling women’s merchandise. He made a more controversial addition to the store in early 1877, when he started to sell dry goods. Wanamaker eventually expanded his retail space to eight acres and installed an air-cooling system. By 1884, the Grand Depot was the largest retail store in America. The following year, the Grand Depot was generating more than $10 million in sales. Wanamaker sold his two smaller stores to his brothers, who had been managing them.

Wanamaker served in President Benjamin Harrison’s cabinet as postmaster general beginning in 1889. In this position, he extended free mail delivery to all Americans, not just those living in cities. He also created the U.S. Postal Savings System.

Wanamaker opened a store in New York City in 1896. This venture paid off, allowing him to take a long European vacation within three years. In 1906, construction began on a sixteen-story addition across the street from the New York store, with an overhead walkway connecting the two sites. Wanamaker also opened stores in London and Paris. He died in 1922, leaving his estate, estimated at $100 million, to his three surviving children.

Legacy

One of the keys to John Wanamaker’s success was his commitment to his customers. He used the innovative practice of attaching price tags to all of his merchandise, believing that all customers should pay the same price. Wanamaker guaranteed his merchandise in writing, upheld the promises in his stores’ advertisements, gave cash refunds, and allowed customers to return items.

Wanamaker loved music and purchased a large pipe organ that was used at the 1904 World’s Fair. He later had the organ installed in the Grand Depot, and immediately began enlarging it. Customers were treated to organ music every day for eighty years. The Grand Depot also was the site of public concerts featuring symphonies and organists from around the world. In the twenty-first century, the organ remained in the Wanamaker Building in Philadelphia.

Wanamaker was also a philanthropist. When Anna Jarvis petitioned to make Mother’s Day a national holiday. Wanamaker financed her campaign from 1908 to 1914. He also gave money to YMCA branches worldwide.

Bibliography

Biswanger, Ray. Music in the Marketplace. Bryn Mawr, Pa.: Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, 1999.

Ershkowitz, Herbert. John Wanamaker: Philadelphia Merchant. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 1999.

Gibbons, Herbert. John Wanamaker. Reprint. Whitefish, Mont.: Kessinger, 2003.

Hepp, John Henry, IV. The Middle-Class City. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.

Zulker, William. John Wanamaker, King of Merchants. Wayne, Pa.: Eaglecrest Press, 1993.