Atlanta is a city known for its plethora of innovation, success and booming economy. Much of the success the city has seen, both present and in the past, can be traced back to Atlanta Jews. While most Atlanta Jews did not become as successful as Morris Rich, a department store retain chain owner, they too concentrated in commercial trade. According to the historian Steven Hertzberg, in 1880, 71% of adult Jewish men in Atlanta worked in commercial trade; 60% were either business owners or managers. Most Atlanta Jews were in the dry goods or clothing business. The retailer began in Atlanta as Rich Dry Goods Store in 1867 (Bailey, 2017). Rich was a Jewish Hungarian immigrant who grew up in Ohio. As the store saw success and increase customer demand, the store expanded to a larger location (Bailey, 2017). Rich's continued to grow alongside the expansion of Atlanta, expanding into malls throughout the metropolitan city. Rich's store came to symbolize the retail shopping experience in Atlanta during the twentieth century. Although in 2003, Rich's store merged with well-known NYC department store, Macy's, generations of customers will continue to remember the store as both a prominent part of Georgia life and a southern establishment (Bailey, 2017).
One exception was Joseph Jacobs, who opened Jacobs’ Pharmacy after moving to Atlanta in 1884. Jacobs made a name for his business when he began to give pennies as change at a time when they were rare and most Atlanta businesses rounded off their prices to the nearest nickel. When his competitors tried to pressure Jacobs’ suppliers not to sell to him, Jacobs filed a number of successful anti-trust suits. He had opened 10 locations of his pharmacy in Atlanta by 1910. Jacobs was not always such an astute businessman, selling his one third interest in a new soft drink that would eventually become Coca-Cola. John Pemberton is often credited for creating the American favorite in his backyard in Atlanta, Georgia as a "brain tonic" to cure hangovers, stomach aches and headaches (jewishcurrents.org). Pemberton brought his special syrup to Jacobs' pharmacy and mixed it with carbonated water and shared it with customers. Jacobs success is not a story of luck. Jacob's long and successful career was attributable to his education, diligence and entrepreneurial spirit. Perhaps his more important characteristic was his willingness to incorporate new technological advances in modern phamacuetical science, as well as a combination with elements from the traditional apothecary arts. Jacobs will forever be remembered as the owner of the drug store that housed the soda fountain that sold the very first Coca-Cola in May 1886.
In addition, Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank, were two Atlanta Jews famously known for founding Home Depot. In 1978, Marcus and Blank dreamt about opening The Home Depot in a Los Angeles coffee shop. After both getting fired from their previous jobs on the same day in 1978, the two envisioned a superstore that would offer a wide variety of merchandise at great prices with highly trained staff. The two men envisioned a chain of home-improvement warehouses, larger than any of their competitors' facilities, filled with a vast array of products and staffed by customer-service experts.
Their intended plan was for employees to not only be able to sell, but also be able to walk customers through most any home repair or improvement. Within the following year, the first Home Depot opened in Atlanta with the help of some investors. The mission of the company when it was founded and today remains the same: "whatever it takes" philosophy. In 1981, the philosophy extended and the company went public and stores opened worldwide. Marcus and Blank were committed to giving back and gave back to the communities where their stores were located. The founding of the company is one of hard work, sweat and tears. The success of the company did not come easily. The two men were extremely determined and creative people who built a business from nothing to 761 stores and $30 billion in sales in a mere twenty years. The Home Depot revolutionized the home-improvement industry by offering a wide selection of merchandise, low prices, and exemplary customer service to both the professional contractor and the do-it-yourself customer.
From those two stores in Atlanta, The Home Depot has grown to more than 2,200 stores in three countries, but in every store, the goal remains the same: to earn our customers’ respect by offering the highest level of service, the broadest selection of products and the most competitive prices. As Marcus says in his and Blank’s book, “Built From Scratch,” “At the end of the day, we’re in the people business.” The founding of The Home Depot represents one of the greatest entrepreneurial success stories of the past twenty years.
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/home-depot http://www.isjl.org/georgia-atlanta-encyclopedia.html Bailey, Matthew. "Rich's Department Store." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 31 January 2017. Web. 11 April 2017. http://jewishcurrents.org/march-29-coca-cola-and-jacobs-pharmacy/ https://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=275 https://corporate.homedepot.com/about/history Bailey, Matthew. "The Home Depot." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 02 August 2016. Web. 13 April 2017.