Clarence Saunders

Clarence Saunders (August 9, 1881 - October 14, 1953) was a grocer who first developed the modern retail sales model of self-service. His ideas have had a massive influence on the development of the modern supermarket. Clarence Saunders worked for most of his life trying to develop a truly automated store, developing Piggly Wiggly, Keedoozle, and Foodelectric store concepts. Clarence Saunders File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Clarence Saunders File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 1881 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... October 14 is the 287th day of the year (288th in Leap years). ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... A grocer is a dealer in staple foodstuffs -- meats, produce, dairy products, etc. ... In commerce, a retailer buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells individual items or small quantities to the general public or end user customers, usually in a shop, also called store. ... Self Service is the practice of serving oneself, usually when purchasing items. ... Exterior appearance of typical supermarket (Albertsons) Supermarket produce section A supermarket is a store that sells a wide variety of goods including food and alcohol (where permitted), medicine, clothes, and other household products that are consumed regularly. ... Piggly Wiggly is a supermarket chain in the Southeastern and Midwestern states of the United States. ...

Born in Virginia, Saunders left school at 14 to clerk in a general store. He then became a traveling ‘drummer’ for a wholesale grocer in 1900 and in 1904 a city salesman for a wholesaler. Through his experiences he became convinced that many small grocers failed because of heavy credit losses and high overhead. Consequently in 1915 he organized the Saunders-Blackburn Co., which sold for cash only and encouraged its retail customers to do the same. State nickname: Old Dominion Other U.S. States Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Governor Mark R. Warner (D) Official languages English Area 110,862 km² (35th)  - Land 102,642 km²  - Water 8,220 km² (7. ... A general store is usually a retailer located in a small town or in a rural area with a broad selection of merchandise crammed into a relatively small space. ... In commerce, a wholesaler buys and stores goods in large quantities from their manufacturers or importers, and then sells smaller quantities to retailers, who in turn sell to the general public. ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... 1904 is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Sales, or the activity of selling, forms an integral part of commercial activity. ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Piggly Wiggly

On September 6, 1916, Saunders launched the self-service revolution in America by opening the first self-service Piggly Wiggly store, at 79 Jefferson Street in Memphis, Tennessee, with its characteristic turnstile at the entrance. September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). ... 1916 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Piggly Wiggly is a supermarket chain in the Southeastern and Midwestern states of the United States. ... City nickname: The River City or The Bluff City Location in the state of Tennessee County Shelby County, Tennessee Area  - Total  - Water 763. ... A turnstile is a form of gate which allows movement of people into a building or venue, but not out. ...

Customers paid cash and selected their own goods from the shelves. Shelf is a detail of furniture for storing items. ...

The store incorporated shopping baskets, self-service branded products, and checkouts at the front. Removing unnecessary clerks, creating elaborate aisle displays, and rearranging the store to force customers to view all of the merchandise were just some of the characteristics of the early Piggly Wiggly stores. A clerk (rhymes with lurk) can be someone who works in an office and whose duties include record-keeping or correspondence. ... In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need. ... Piggly Wiggly is a supermarket chain in the Southeastern and Midwestern states of the United States. ...

The concept of the "Self-Serving Store" was patented by Saunders in 1917. Patent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... 1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Though this format of grocery market was drastically different from its competitors, the style became the standard for the modern supermarket, and in 1922 Piggly Wiggly had grown into 1,200 stores in 29 states. By 1932, the chain had grown to 2,660 stores doing over $180-million annually. 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1932 is a leap year starting on a Friday. ...

Saunders began construction of a pink marble mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. The "Pink Palace" is now a museum, and it includes a walk-through model of the first Piggly-Wiggly store, complete with 2¢ packets of Kellogg's Cornflakes and 8¢ cans of Campbell's Soup. Marble This page is about the metamorphic rock. ... Mansion near Almelo, The Netherlands A mansion is a large and stately dwelling house. ... City nickname: The River City or The Bluff City Location in the state of Tennessee County Shelby County, Tennessee Area  - Total  - Water 763. ... Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) (also known as Campbells) is undeniably the most well-known producer of canned soups and related products in the United States (and possibly the world). ...

In early 1932, Merrill Lynch and other ‘bear’ interests on Wall Street tried to hammer down the price of Piggly Wiggly stock. It is alleged, Saunders took a train to New York with one million dollars in cash in a small bag and bought and bought Piggly Wiggly stock until he had orders for 196,000 of the 200,000 outstanding shares. Pressured by the ‘bears’ the New York Stock Exchange declared a ‘corner’ existed (see cornering the market), and gave the ‘bears’ five days rather than 24 hours to deliver the stock Saunders had bought. Saunders’ bank and his friends were pressured and the price was driven back down; Saunders was forced into bankruptcy having to sell his stock at a loss. 1932 is a leap year starting on a Friday. ... Merrill Lynch & Co. ... View up Wall Street from Pearl Street Wall Street is the name of a narrow thoroughfare in lower Manhattan running east from Broadway downhill to the East River. ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki (R) Official languages None (English is de facto) Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... In business, cornering the market is an illegal attempt to buy up enough of a particular commodity to allow the price to be manipulated. ... Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ...

He never lived in his mansion. Saunders had no further association with the company.

In a move reminiscent of that of J. Walter Scott’s in 1889, he went on to create the "Clarence Saunders sole-owner-of-my-name" chain, which went into bankruptcy. 1889 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Keedoozle

Then, in 1937, Saunders designed and constructed a prototype of an automated store, which he called the "Keedoozle" (for "Key Does All"). Keedoozle was a completely automated store, based on modern supply chain principles. 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... A supply chain is a network of facilities and distribution options that performs the functions of procurement of materials; transformation of these material into intermediate and finished products; and distribution of these finished products to customers. ...

Merchandise was displayed as single units each within a glass cabinet under which was a keyhole. Customers entering the store were handed a small pistol-like key that they placed in the keyhole below the goods they wished to buy, the quantity being determined by the number of times they pulled the key's trigger. This action, recorded on punched tape, activated back office machinery to assemble the order, which was then dispatched to the checkout on a conveyor belt. On reaching the checkout, the customer's tape was run through a reader to produce the bill, their groceries being assembled, boxed and waiting for collection. This system eliminated the need for shopping carts; and it increased savings in space, in the labour needed to stock the shelves, and in the time customers spent queuing at the checkout. Alas, the machinery proved unreliable, particularly at busy times and the resulting delays coupled with a heavy maintenance bill killed Keydoozle. Keyhole has the following meanings: A keyhole is the hole where a key is inserted to open a lock. ... A Browning 9 millimetre semi-automatic pistol Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century. ... The word key has several uses: A key (lock) as a physical object (tool) used to manipulate a lock. ... A roll of punched tape Punched tape is an old-fashioned form of data storage, consisting of a long strip of paper in which holes are punched to store data. ... A back office is a part of most corporations where tasks dedicated to running the company itself take place. ... POS must not be confused with EFT/POS and POS Terminal used in Electronic payment POS or PoS is an acronym for point-of-sale (or point of purchase). ... Point of contact between a power transmission belt and its pulley. ...

Foodelectric

Until the time of his death in October, 1953, Saunders was developing plans for another automatic store system called the "Foodelectric." But the store, which was to be located two blocks from the first Piggly Wiggly store, never opened. October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Saunders had a reputation for brilliance, contrariness, and eccentricity. Sadly, his death came just as the full impact of his "better idea" for grocery merchandising was becoming apparent; his creative genius was decades ahead of his time.

Miscellaneous

Saunders ran for Mayor of Memphis but was defeated. This is a list of mayors of Memphis. ...

Saunders is the inventor of record of the turnstile. A turnstile is a form of gate which allows movement of people into a building or venue, but not out. ...

Patent

• U.S. Patent 1242872 - Self-serving store -- C. Saunders