From A Piano Crate To A Retail Chain,
To have a better under
?landing of the Rose Corpora
tion and its growth, one must
first know about the solid
foundation this company was
built on. This foundation was
started by the late Paul H.
Rose. If anyone was ever des
tined to become a merchant,
it was Paul H. Rose. During
his boyhood days in Jackson
and Seaboard, North Caro
lina, he cut lightwood splint
era, bundled, and sold them.
His mother also contributed
by baking cookies fpr him to
sell. Having proven to be a
successful businessman, Mr.
Rose, at the formal age of
twelve, acquired his. first
store. The store was a large
piano crate which was placed
in a doctor's office at the
close of each day's business.
One of the specialties offered
at the store was a drink made
of vinegar and' soda.
Mr. Paul Rose had become
a well know retailer in the
community by the time he
was a teenager. It was during
this period of his life when he
started a mail order business
by advertising in the Home
Folks Magazine. This venture
was successful in the begin
ning; however, it later failed
because of a hair straighteher
he advertised. It seems this
product straightened the hair;
however, it first removed the
hair from the head. A Federal
Food and Drug agent paid
Mr. Rose a visit and his mail
order business was dissolved.
Not many people of this
time were interested in educa
tion since the opportunities
were limited. Mr. Rose; how
ever, attended business school
in Norfolk, Virginia and
learned to be a stenographer.
After his schooling, Mr.
Rose opened his first real
store in Littleton. His capital
was very limited; yet, he did
have a store which was a great
| improvement over a piano
I crate. He ordered empty shoe
boxes to help fill the space on
j the shelves. He would buy
1 remnants of material and
wrap it around a piece of
cardboard to give the ap
pearance of a full bolt of
cloth.
Mr. P. H. Rose proved to
be a great sales promoter by
staging a popular girl contest
to feature candy in his Little
ton store. Votes were placed
on the basis of the amount of
candy one bought. He sold
more candy than Littleton
had ever seen. This attracted
the attention of the candy
manufacturer, who called him
to New York and gave him all
the southeastern states in
cluding Texas in which to sell
their line.
As a candy salesman, Mr.
Rose soon stablished quite a
record. He found he had a
considerable amount of time
between trains, so he visited
local variety stores and dis
cussed merchandising prob
lems with the managers, He
analyzed these problems and
soon organized merchants of
different towns into a whole
sale buyer's association in
order to buy merchandise at
cheaper rates
Being the head of a buyers
group and having the store in
Littleton to run, required al
most twenty-four hours a
day. Mr. Rose finally decided
to abandon the buying or
ganization and to open a
chain of his own. He and two
other men formed a partner
ship known as the United 5
and 10 Cent Stores and open
ed a unit in Charlotte and
Henderson. One of the part
ners failed to pay his share;
therefore, the young, strug
gling business did not have
BANK WITH CONFIDENCE
ALL BANKIN6 TRANSACTIONS STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
SAVINGS? CHECKING ? LOANS? TRUSTS? INSURANCE
Citizens Bank & Trust Co.
Henderson, N. C.
"THE LEADING BANK IN THIS SECTION"
1889 - 80 YEARS OF SERVICE & SECURITY - 1969
sufficient capital to survive.
Mr. Rose found himself fi.
nancialiy embarrassed, and
his business reputation was at
stak#. He borrowed S500.00,
bought the Henderson unit,
and took over the manage
ment. Merchandise was pur
chased for the store on a C.
0. D. basis and would stay at
the railroad station until
enough money could be ac
cumulated to pay the bill.
The Henderson store was a
! success from the very start in
1915 when Mr. Rose took
over. By 1916 another store
was opened in Oxford. In
1917, store number three at
Louisburg and store number
four at Roxboro were open
ed. By 1920 there were seven
stores with net assets of
$30,000. By the end of 1925,.
ten years after starting, the
stores numbered twenty-six.
In May, 1927, the Rose
Company was incorporated
and offered to the public
both common and cumulative
preferred stock. In 1935, the
preferred stock was called
and since that time only com
mon stock has been offered.
The results of the 1927 incor
poration was $110,000 addi
tional working capital which
was used for expansion.
The Rose Corporation had
grown to forty-five stores by
1929, and sales had reached
well over a million and a
quarter dollars per year. The
P. H. Rose Building was con
structed in 1929 to house the
offices of the corporation. By
the end of 1934, there were
seventy-three stores in opera
tion, and sales had reached
three and a half million dol
lars per year. ?
The Great Depression hit
the country during the early
1930's, and most merchantile
establishments considered
themselves lucky to be in
business. Rose's; however,
showed a steady increase in
sales and expansion. During
1935. fourteen new stores
were opened, and the first
company warehouse. 100 x
200 feet was built in Hender
son. The warehouse became
known as Rose Merchandise
Company. At the end of
1935. the company had in
operation 87 stores in five
states. Sales that year exceed
ed four and a third million
dollars. By the end of 1943,
there were. 122 stores with
assets of ?2.600,000. The
authorized capital of the cor
poration was increased to
S2.500.000.00 in 1944. and
two years later a buying of
fice was opened in New York.
Mr. P. H Rose found that
he had worked himself out of
a job by 1941. Every time he
started to do something
around the home office, he
found someone else was al
ready doing it. He soon re
tired and spent most of his
time fishing at Norfolk, Vir
ginia. Mr. Rose was not satis
fied with this semi-active life
and soon organized himself a
new corporation. 'The Paul
H. Rose Corporation," gen
eral offices located in Nor
folk. This corporation has
grown to be one of Norfolk's
greatest businesses. At first
there were only a few build
ings on Twenty First Street;
however, in 1952, the Center
Shops at Wards Corner were
opened and with it. the first
escalator in Norfolk. These
shops feature everything for
home and family. The P. H.
R. Corporation also operates
five PHR Youngland Shops in
EARLY IN THE WEEK SPECIALS
PEPSIS 2 r 79c 3 r $1
CRISCO (with food order) 3 Lb. Can A W ^ I
DAILY BREAD _
FLOUR 25 - 1.99
DEAN FARMS GRADE A SMALL _ ^ ^
EGGS 4 - 1.00
IGA Plastic Bot.
MILK - 59( ' 1.19
SAVE YOUR TAPE GAME
- $25.00 5?
WORTH
Norfolk, Portsmouth, New
port News, and Richmond. In
1962, the Rose Corporation
purchased the P. H. R. Cor
poration and has built new
stores in Winston-Salem,
Greensboro and Gastonia.
Navy Tests
Warhead
Cape Kennedy -- The Navy
recently made the ninth test
flight of its multiwarhead
Poseidon missile. It was re
ported the launching was suc
cessful by hitting its target
several hundred miles away.
Alcohol
Addiction
Salt Lake City - Mrs.
Marty Mann of New York,
founder of the National
Council on Alcholism, reports
that of the 90 million people
in the United States who
drink, 6.5 million are alco
holics. Mrs. Mann stressed the
need to discover the cause of
alcoholism.
?
A good neighbor knows
how to live and let other
people alone.
CARPET NEEDS
VISIT TAYLOR'S
FLOOR COVERING
SHOP
FEATURING
(Uufci Cksns v v \ hh
Mohawk
25 DIFFERENT
CARPET SAMPLES
TO CHOOSE FROM
PRICE FROM $3.95
TO $17 95 SO. YD
CARPETS FOR HOMES
AND CHURCHES
FREE ESTIMATES
H.C.
TAYLOR
I HARDWARE 1
FURNITURE |
PLANT OPERATORS
We are currently acceptingapplications for potential openings in our
manufacturing department. This is an exceptional opportunity for
those seeking a challenging career opportunity in the chemical
processing industry. You will be trained in chemical production and
processing operations on jobs that involve rotating shift work with
shift premium pay. Excellent pay and fringe benefits. All applicants
must be "high school graduates or equivalent, able to pass written
pre-employment test, and physical examination. Applications will be
handled in a strictly confidential manner. We invite you to submit
your application at our plant any week day between the hours of 8
A M to 3: 30 P.M.
MALLINCKRODT CHEMICAL WORKS
Hwy. No. 1 North of Raleigh
t O Bo* 17627
Raleigh, N. C. (27609)
828-0771
An Equal Opportunity Employer
THURSDAY
AUGUST 7th,
1969
9:00 TO 5:30
til I IK t STUCK LADIES
SPORTSWEAR
REDUCED Cf|Q7
UPTO UU/O
15 LADIES BRAS
VALUES TO 2.00 ^ flOW 50(
ONE GROUP
BOYS' BERMUDA SHORTS
VALUES TO 4.00 Now 69C
ONE TABLE
LADIES TENNIS
SHOES
VALUES TO 3.99 |||Q^
ONE GROUP
BOYS' SPORT SHIRTS
VALUES TO 3.00 NOW 59(
ONE GRAB TABLE
VALUES TO 2.99 NOW 39(
ENTIRE STOCK LADIES SUMMER
DRESSES
REDUCED
UP TO
50%
ONE TABLE
BOYS' JEANS
VALUES TO 3.00 Now S1.00
ONE GRAB TABLE
CHILDREN WEAR 590
ONE TABLE
LADIES SHOES
VALUES TO 7.99 S9( NOW
~~ 46 PAIR MEN'S
DRESS SHOES
VALUES TO $10.00
Now $1.00
ONE TABLE
BOYS' DRESS
VALUES
TO 6.99
SHOES
Now $1.00
ONE GROUP
MEN'S BERMUDA SHORTS
VALUES TO 4.00 NOW 59(
7 MEN'S
SPORT COATS
VALUES TO 25.00 , Now 5.00
ONE GROUP
BOYS' SPORT SHIRTS
SIZES 8 - 20 |Jnu/ OQa
VALUES TO 3.00 nuw 0Jv
ONE TABLE
BOYS' UNDERWEAR
SHORTS & VEST
VALUES TO 79c each
Now 25C ...
ONE RACK
BOYS' SUITS
1/2 Price
ONE GROUP
MEN'S PANTS
VALUES TO 10.00
Now $1.00
ONE GROUP
MEN'S SUITS
T,C.E? 1/2
ONE TABLE MEN'S
SPORT SHIRTS
VALUES TO 4.00
Now $1.00
ONE GROUP
MEN'S SWIM SUITS
VALUES TO 5.00 Now 390
ONE TABLE MEN'S t WOMEN'S
WORK litre
STRAW
VALUES TO 1.00 NOW 15(
ONE GROUP MEN'S
SPORT COATS
if" 1/2 HMCE