Edward Filene: A Social Entrepreneur

Edward Filene was an American social entrepreneur who was known for founding a department store chain, Filene’s. He pioneered credit unions that made trade more dynamic in the US.

Filene was born in Salem, Massachusetts on September 3, 1860. When he was in high school, Filene worked for his father’s store in the evenings, during weekends and in summer breaks. He joined Harvard University but midway through his college education, Filene was forced to quit school to take over the family’s business following his father’s failing physical health. Quitting Harvard was one of Filene’s greatest disappointments.

With the help of his brother Abraham, Filene reorganized his father’s business and formed the William Filene’s Sons Company, which became Filene’s later on. In 1909, Filene introduced the “Automatic Bargain Basement” where unsold items are moved to the basement as the prices go down. When the goods remain unsold, they were donated to charities.

Filene’s management inspiration was Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor was known for scientific methods that designed to increase efficiency in the workplace. On his part, Filene refined some underutilized techniques and used them on Filene’s Department Store. His stores dealt with the customers with all honesty, offering to return the customers’ “money back if not satisfied”.

Actually, Filene’s Basement was not the first of its kind in the US. However, the retail designs and the automatic markdowns increased consumers’ excitement and proved to be profitable in the long run. Filene himself oversaw the construction of his first basement located in Boston. His advocacy in consumer education led him to introduce color coding in his department stores.

Filene was also the pioneer in employee relations that many of the modern workers still enjoy today. Some of the employee benefits include profit sharing, minimum wage for female workers, health clinics, the 40-hour work week, and paid vacations. He encouraged unions by creating the Filene Cooperative Association. He also established a savings and loan association for his workers, which was later known as Filene Employees’ Credit Union.

Harvey Samuel Firestone: Rubber Tires made the Difference

Harvey Samuel Firestone was a businessman who founded one of the first producers of automobile tires, the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. He was born on December 20, 1868 in Columbiana, Ohio. Firestone was the second of three sons of Benjamin and Catherine Firestone.

Firestone finished high school at Columbiana High School. He once worked for Columbus Buggy Company. In 1890, Firestone founded a company that produces tires for carriages, the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. Firestone also published Men and Rubber: The Story of Business, the book which Firestone wrote with Samuel Crowther.

Along with Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, Firestone was considered as one of the three leaders of American industries at a certain point in time. They were a part of “The Millionaire’s Club,” an exclusive group.

The Princeton University named its library as Firestone Library, in honor of Firestone. The Firestone Library is one of the world’s largest university libraries. Firestone was an inductee to the Automotive Hall of Fame.

Marshall Field: Changed the Landscape of Dry Goods Retailing

Marshall Field was an American businessman who was responsible for the establishment of the Chicago-based department store Marshall Field & Co. he was born on August 18, 1834 in Conway, Franklin County, Massachusetts. When he was 17, Field went to Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts to work in a local dry goods store.

New work opportunities were expanding in the West so that Field left Massachusetts when he was 18. At 21, Field lived in Chicago Illinois with his brother. He worked with Cooley, Wadsworth & Co., a dry goods business. In 1857, his employer’s name was changed to Cooley, Farwell & Co. the company reorganized in 1862 and Field became a partner of the new firm named Farwell, Field & Co.

Along with his friend Levi Leiter, Field became a senior partner of the dry goods merchant Potter Palmer in 1865. Upon admission, the new company was named Field, Palmer, Leiter & Co. Palmer withdrew from the partnership in 1867 and the firm’s name was changed to Field, Leiter & Co.

Field, Leiter & Co. survived a lot of challenges including the 1871 Great Chicago Fire with which the firm immediately recovered, and the Panic of 1873 with which the partnership survived because of low levels of debt. Field forced Leiter to sell his stakes in the partnership and the firm was renamed as Marshall Field & Co.

As a businessman, Field painted a consumer landscape which revolves around the principle of caveat emptor or “buyer beware.”  Among the major innovations that Field has set included consistent pricing, unconditional refunds, and international imports. These innovations became a benchmark for retailing until today. Field taught his workers not to force the buyers to purchase his products – a principle still observed today. The slogans such as “The customer is always right” and “Give the lady what she wants” are credited to Field.

Field did well in avoiding social intrigue and politics. He focused his time and energy on his business and on his family. He supported a few charitable and philanthropic activities.

Ernest Solvay: Man of Leadership and Responsibility

Ernest Solvay was a Belgian chemist who owned the patent for the ammonia-soda process used to produce sodium carbonate. He founded the chemicals company Solvay SA and operated the first soda manufacturing facility in 1865 in Couillet, Belgium.

Solvay was convinced that science and industry are essential elements of the total well being of the society. In 1878, Solvay was the first to establish a pension fund for the workers at Solvay. In 1897, Solvay implemented an 8-hour workday. In 1913, he started paying paid vacations. These are among the firsts Solvay implemented before they became a worldwide practice up to the present time.

Because he believed in social responsibility, Solvay established a few scientific and charitable foundations. Among these institutions included the Institute of Physics in 1895, Institute of Sociology in 1901, and the School of Business in Brussels in 1903. Up to this time, the School of Business still bears the name of Solvay.

Solvay’s passion for science led him to establish the Council of Physics and attracted some of the most prominent chemists and physicists. In 2011, the Council celebrated its 100^th anniversary. Some of the most brilliant scientists have converged in Brussels for the biennale gathering.

Cyrus Field: The Man Who Brought Telegraph in the Mainstream

Cyrus Field was an American financier and businessman who was instrumental in the creation of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. In 1858, Field and Atlantic Telegraph were able to lay down the first telegraph cable system across the Atlantic Ocean.

Field was born on October 20, 1819 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. At 15, he went to New York City to work in the largest dry goods emporium in the city at that time as an errand boy. When he was 18, he went back to Stockbridge.

At around 1840, Field went back to New York City again. He ventured into paper manufacturing at a time when the demand for penny press and the need for stocks and bonds were high. He became one of the wealthiest men in the city, which allowed him to retire when he was just 34. With a fortune of $250,000, Field bought his family a home in Gramercy Park.

Field financed Frederic Edwin Church’s expeditions in the 1850s. The expeditions allowed Church to reach Andes in his search for new landscapes that would become the subject of his paintings. Field commissioned some of Church’s famous artworks hoping to lure a few investors to support his ventures in South America.

Soon, Field ventured into telegraphy. Along with Samuel F.B. Morse, Moses Taylor, Abram Stevens Hewitt and Peter Cooper, Field laid down a 400-mile telegraph line that connected Nova Scotia and St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1854. In 1855, they founded the American Telegraph Company. The company began acquiring other telegraph companies and consolidated the system that ran from the Gulf Coast to Maine.

When finances were secured and the backing of the British and American governments acquired, Atlantic Telegraph laid down the first telegraph cable system that used the shallow submarine plateau between Newfoundland and Ireland. The cable system was officially on August 16, 1858 after Queen Victoria sent a message via Morse code to President James Buchanan. However, the jubilation for the new cable system was short-lived because it broke down after three weeks. The system was reconnected in 1866.

That year, Field laid down a better and more durable trans-Atlantic cable line. This provided an almost instant communication line across the Atlantic.

The Canadian Pacific railway named the community of Field, British Columbia in December 1884 to honor Field and his contributions in telegraphy.

Carlton Hobbs: The Career Trajectory of a World-Renowned Antiques Collector and Dealer

Now based in New York City, England-born antiques dealer Carlton Hobbs has earned a worldwide reputation as an expert in fine art and furnishings from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Today, his Manhattan-headquartered gallery serves a global clientele that includes both private collectors and an array of influential international museums, but Mr. Hobbs himself hails from humble roots, the son of a merchant who once owned a small shop in London’s King’s Road neighborhood. At Odds and Hobbs, a young Carlton amassed a foundational knowledge of the vintage furniture trade and quickly displayed a noticeable proficiency for business. At only nine years old, he made his first major sale to Barbara Hulanicki, a well-known actress and proprietor of the much missed fashion enterprise Biba. 

In the mid-1970s, Carlton Hobbs set his sights on loftier goals and became involved with a family venture called the Furniture Cave, a showroom situated on a multi-dealer site in Chelsea. His ascent to the antique world’s upper echelons followed as he gradually acquired a collection of higher-end pieces, primarily of British and Continental origin. After many successful decades in London, the time came to pursue new ventures overseas, bringing Mr. Hobbs to his current and extraordinary Upper East Side residence/showroom, a John Russell Pope-designed mansion he spent four years renovating and restoring. 

In the past few years, Carlton Hobbs has garnered several prestigious awards for pieces in his gallery’s unsurpassed collection and participated in 2012’s TEFAF Maastricht Fair, an annual event that draws top antique dealers and collectors from across the globe. Along with his business partner Stephanie Rinza, Mr. Hobbs also donates to a number of charitable organizations that promote animal welfare. In May 2013, Carlton Hobbs Antiques will participate in the Art and Antique Dealers League of America’s Spring Show, an occasion that will benefit the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.