Hidden Corners of History - Innovative Business

Innovative Business

Jarrod E. Stephens

For The Ashland Beacon

A simple trip to the grocery store has a way of reminding how much our hard-earned money really is worth. Economists call it inflation or a rise in cost of living, but whatever you call it, it hurts. I have an elderly uncle who recently claimed that he wasn’t like other aging people who have grown weaker as they aged. He claimed that when he was first married that he had to make two or three trips to the car the carry in $50 in groceries, but he can now in his old age carry $50 in groceries in one hand. I guess we may as well have a sense of humor about rising costs and the tactics used by retailers to keep us coming back.

Through the centuries stores have used many tactics to get customers in the door and in every economic climate people keep coming back because we must. Some schemes or tactics have come and gone. However, others are alive and well.

The spirit of prosperity was on full display in 1849 when gold was discovered in California. Thousands of men left everything they knew in the east to travel to the west for glorious riches in the gold fields. A simple scouring of historical accounts will reveal that most of the would-be miners failed in their endeavors. However, the store owners prospered mightily.

One such profiteer was Samuel Brannan. When Brannan learned that gold had been discovered in California, he bought all the mining supplies from merchants in San Francisco. He then began proclaiming that gold was in abundance in the mountains near Sutters Mill and surrounding areas. He walked through the streets with a vial of gold shouting and showing off his gold. The rush was on and so was the markup on goods. Brannan is said to have become California’s first millionaire because of his monopoly on mining tools.

In rural areas throughout Appalachia in the early 1900s, general stores owned by individuals served communities by providing wares that were not readily available. Several years ago, I purchased a ledger from a general store. The transactions were from the late 1800’s and it was clear that bartering and trading were alive and well. The store owner traded basic goods to customers who would bring eggs, apples and other items they had an abundance of. While it may seem that the store owner was doing the customer a favor, the favor worked in both directions. The goods could be traded for other items and the goods that were brought in could be sold to other customers. This helped the store owner keep inventory fresh and diversified. I’d love to be able to trade some of my excess to Kroger for a cart of groceries.

One innovation that was introduced during the Great Depression has held on tightly to our shopping experience so that we don’t have to hold tightly to the items we carry. As I enter a store, I am terribly guilty of not using a cart because I feel that if I can’t carry it then I’m getting too much. Well, in the 1930s an observant store owner, Sylvan Goldman, watched shoppers in his Humpty Dumpty grocery store walk in, fill their arms or baskets and then stop shopping. As a retailer he wanted customers to get everything they needed each visit which would of course help his revenues.

Goldman attached some wheels to a folding chair, attached a basket to the chair with a smaller basket mounted above the larger. The first generation of the shopping cart was born. His idea was slow to catch on, so he had his workers offer carts to customers as they walked in. It is said that he actually hired actors to walk through the store pretending to use the carts. He was normalizing the use of the carts and there’s no doubt that his efforts paid off. Carts are at the door of every store you enter, and you rarely see one that isn’t full or overflowing.

With the introduction of online shopping in the last few decades, we are again witnessing a revolution in shopping that now keeps us at home. Retailers can create online shopping opportunities with goods from all over the world that can be shipped to our homes with very little leg work on our part. Each year more money is earned from online retail transactions. We may not step into the stores, but we get the products that we need delivered right to our door.

It was once said that “Necessity is the mother of all invention.” As humans we have many necessities that can only be provided in stores and no matter the price, we will find a way to get what we need. And don’t worry, our friendly and innovative retailers will help us find a way to get everything that we don’t need.