John Wanamaker
department store founder/leader
Biography
John Wanamaker is described as the leader of the modern department store as it became a fixed institution in American commercial life. James B. Woodford studied the potential of placing a piano department within Wanamaker's stores and, upon learning Wanamaker was contemplating a piano business, negotiated the establishment of the piano and organ departments in the Wanamaker stores in Philadelphia and New York in April 1899, which went on to enormous sales success.
Highlights
- Described as the leading figure of the American department store, whom James B. Woodford persuaded to establish piano and organ departments in his stores in 1899.
Source
Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), p. 207.
Public domain.