JOHN WANAMAKER

Pioneer of Department Stores

John Wanamaker created the first department store in 1876. This was a new idea of combining many specialty stores into one large store. Another innovation was a restaurant inside the store. In addition, Wanamaker pioneered the use of price tags, money-back guarantees, newspaper ads, and white sales.

John Wanamaker was born in Philadelphia in 1838. His first store was a mens' and boys' clothing store in partnership with his brother-in-law Nathan Brown, becoming the sole owner at the death of Brown. Business grew during the Civil War, and by 1872, was the largest clothing retailer in the nation. A much larger store was created in 1876 which sold men's and women's clothing as well as dry goods, housed in a former railroad depot. Although that building no longer exists, the space continued to house the department store, later by a Lord & Taylor store, a subsidiary of the May Company that bought Wanamaker's and then Hecht's.

In 1877, he added several other "departments" under the same roof. Wanamaker opened a second store in New York City in 1896, and continued enlarging his stores. He had many special touches in his stores, including Ford dealerships, the world's largest organ which was featured in the atrium, and a telegraph receiving station on the roof, which was the first to receive word that the Titanic had sunk. He also served as Postmaster General from 1889 to 1893, and was involved in many charitable organizations.

Wanamaker was also a leader in giving his employees modern "fringe benefits", like vacations, health care, pension, life insurance, and payments for further education. He also was innovative in such things as a telephone ordering system and refunds on merchandise.

When Wanamaker died in 1922, it was a huge public event. Philadelphia lowered its flags, the newspapers called him the city's most eminent citizen, and the public schools closed the day of his funeral. His pallbearers included the Governor of Pennsylvania, the Mayors of Philadelphia and New York, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the inventor Thomas Edison.