ABSTRACT
In 1841, Charles Fox Hovey and his two partners set up as importers and wholesale dealers in dry goods in Boston. By 1848 they had diversified into retail. C.F. Hovey and Company became an innovator in department store merchandizing: plainly marked goods with a one-price system, the adoption of early closing hours, profit-sharing for employees and a credit system utilizing monthly bills were some of the practices they pioneered. In addition to the store in Boston, the company maintained offices in New York and Paris, and were sufficiently trusted internationally by 1854 for a certain Leopold Schwabe to grant them a power of attorney from Liverpool, sealed by the recently appointed US Consul, a certain Nathaniel Hawthorne. Samuel Johnson, hired in 1846, became a partner in 1851 and remained with Hovey’s until he died 1899, one year after his son, Edward C. Johnson, presented him with a grandson, Edward C. Johnson Jr. This Mr Johnson did not join the store, but the themes of choosing stock carefully, innovative service to the public, international operations and trustworthiness were to re-emerge in another way. He was, fortunately, just too young to serve in the First World War, and qualified as a lawyer after studying at Harvard. He was also somewhat too old to serve in the Second World War. But as a lawyer he was responsible for investing funds on his own behalf and for family members and clients. In 1943 he became President and director of an ailing mutual fund business called The Fidelity Fund which had been established in 1930, both to indulge his passion for investing and to provide consolidated investment management for some of the funds for which he was responsible. He sacked the professional managers and did it himself. The results were pretty spectacular!
