In Life, don’t discount a friendship
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Sam had an idea, but needed help.
Beta House on the campus of Mizzou was the fraternity to join. You were either smart, rich, an athletic stud or a smooth talker.
St. Jo’s Allen Schreiber and brother Bill, whose family found success in the Ag feed business, fit right in.
Everybody liked Sam, he would do odd jobs around the fraternity for extra money including dishes.
After college, these future members of the “Greatest Generation” took a pause in life along with most everyone else ... World War II.
Post-war survivors came home and adjusted the best they could. The Schreiber boys returned to St. Jo and Sam headed back to Arkansas.
Fraternity brothers have a unique bond. They share that quirky time in life where together these clumsy kids learn, make mistakes, blow off steam and turn into men.
“What happens in a Frat House, stays in a Frat House.”
Years later when Sam called Allen, wanting him to listen and invest in his idea, it was taken seriously out of respect for him and the brotherhood.
Sam was in retail, having purchased a small “5 and Dime” store, but wanted to expand.
Sam’s innovative concepts were studied, knowing his store could increase sales and profits by dealing directly with the manufacturer, eliminating the “middleman” or wholesaler in the process, but also disrupting the norm.
In addition, focusing on American products and building new stores close to where the shoppers lived just made sense. The next step would be to create faithful customers by saving them money.
He felt the company could lower prices on quality goods, making up the profit difference in volume. These and other strategies revolutionized retail, all from that fraternity brother who needed a little seed money to get growing.
His name was Sam Walton.
Allen turned the proposal down and as they say, “the rest is history.”
Buying, selling and trading goods is as old as civilization itself.
Early on, St. Joseph served as a trading post that later developed into the last retail outpost in the mid 1800s, a spot where you could outfit what was needed to join a wagon train and head West.
This ad appeared in the St Joseph Gazette on April 25, 1845:
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COME AND SEE!! NEW GOODS
A splendid assortment | Cheaper than ever
Cassimere's, Jeans, Alpacas, Handkerchiefs, Bed Tickings, Flannels, Linens, Cashmere de Ecosse, Shirting, Hardware, Groceries, Teas, Queenswear, Boots, Shoes, Hats, Fine & Coarse Cotton and Fancy Shawls of every description.
Hemp-Hides-Beeswax-Tallow-Flax Seed-Feathers-Furs and Deer Skins
Will be taken the same as cash
J.C. Robidoux
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Shopping has come a long way.
As towns emerged in the West, purchasing patterns changed. St Joseph was still a hub for merchandise, but businesses went from outfitting to wholesaling. That structure lasted over 100 years.
Traveling salesmen crisscrossed the country, calling on Mom and Pop shops that sprang up in new towns with goods stored and delivered from wholesalers or distributors like Wyeth and Company, C. D. Smith, Nave McCord & Co and Ross-Frazer.
The next step in the retail evolution was department stores, which took all of Mom and Pop’s products and put them under one roof: Macy’s, JC Penney, Montgomery Wards and Sears Roebuck dominated.
These companies added an extra layer in sales options when they produced catalogs, allowing for distant customers to shop and dream.
In the '50s and '60s, the advent of the shopping mall added another death nail to the Mom and Pop era, reshaping purchasing habits and the country’s social structure itself. Downtowns throughout the land began to decline as shopping centers were built where the customers lived, in the suburbs.
Kansas City’s Plaza is said to be one of the first shopping districts away from a downtown in the country. It was an enormous success, spurring a national development frenzy.
Retail keeps on changing as online giants like Amazon go neck-and-neck with our friend Sam Walton’s Arkansas venture, Wal-Mart. Both behemoths had revenues over $600 billion in 2024.
As the world accepts technology more readily, be prepared for retail's next innovation, drone delivery.
By all accounts, Allen Schreiber led a superb and full life, but I wonder if in the back of his mind there wasn’t that occasional gnawing question … what if he would have told Sam “yes!”
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Bob Ford’s History will appear in each edition of the Weekender and Midweek. For more of Bob’s work visit his website bobfordshistory.com or videos on YouTube, TikTok and Clapper.
