My retail career

I grew up in Altoona, Pa. It was a small, railroading town in the center of Pennsylvania. The railroads were declining, so were the mills and the mines that were the local economy's backbone. I was a jock in school and never hit the " books' very hard. After high school, I never knew what I wanted to be as they say. I never had and still don't have that one thing that is my sole passion.

Seeing no future in blue-collar work where I lived at that time, I thought it cool to be a D.J. Starting out as a D.J. is not very lucrative, and I soon lost interest in that and had to start making a living. I found a job in a discount retail store. I was rapidly promoted to manage the hardware, sporting goods, and automotive departments.

I moved on to work at the big downtown department store. The old mammoth kind that had everything under one roof and was the crowned jewel of the town. I always wanted to work there and started out at the bargain basement shoe department. In those days, stores across the country had leased their shoe departments. The big shoe companies were able to provide that specialized service. I went to work for Cincinnati Shoe Company, the retail division of U.S. Shoe.

I advanced rapidly in 6 months; I was promoted to the upscale fashion shoe departments' assistant manager. I was then asked to open a new lease in an established store chain in Minnesota. I took the promotion, and soon I was opening shoe departments and became a turn-around specialist in underperforming stores.

I was called on when the company branched into the discount outlet type operations to open the first shoe department in the Burlington Coat Factory. After successfully launching that venture, I was called on to turn around struggling stores in Texas. My move to Texas was a culture shock since I had never been farther south than Washington, D.C. N.J. to Pt. Arthur, Texas, in 1976 was a colossal culture shock.

The reason I was so successful in that environment is I struggle with authority issues. I had poor examples in teachers, coaches, and bosses. It didn't help that my dad was pretty much never home. The life of a railroad engineer in those days was spent either working or sleeping.

These shoe departments were leased, and my immediate bosses were at the headquarters in Cincinnati. Sure, I had some dealing with store managers, but they weren't in authority over me. I was in charge pretty much, and I thrived.

Back in the '70s and under the unique lease situation I was in, I had to do it all. I did all the hiring and training as well as had to maintain my own personal sales.  I created newspaper ads, displays in the department as well as window displays. I had to do payroll and balance the cash registers. I loved wearing all those hats and no close supervision.  I loved being the manager of one store and a supervisor of ten others. That is what kept me in retail despite low wages and long hours.

I kept getting promoted until one day; I was asked to turn around a group of stores in Ft. Worth, Texas. This promotion turned out to be my Waterloo. These stores were an anachronism. They were still holding onto green stamps as a marketing tool. They catered to a dying out old carriage trade customer. They refused to be in malls and not open nights in the '70s that was old school to the max. Interesting now the trend has reversed, but I digress.

My retail career was going nowhere, and with no college and no real outside sales experience, I was in a terrible position entering my 30's.