David Cohen, Led Chain of Bargain Stores, 80
DGH
David Cohen, who led John's Bargain Stores to the top rungs of discount
retailing in the 1960's, died on Thursday, May 30, 2002, at his home in
Medford, New York, at the age of 80, from lung cancer. Cohen also had a
home in Delray Beach, Florida.
John's Bargain Store — with its big red sign and white lettering — was
once a nearly ubiquitous presence in the New York, New York,
metropolitan area, particularly in low-income sections. It grazed the
low end of retailing, relying on paying cheap rent for locations few
other retailers wanted, as well as on buying merchandise that could be
startlingly inexpensive, often because the manufacturer had
overestimated demand.
"Give us your mistakes and we'll make them pay," was a company slogan. A
company maxim was that the best places for stores were areas with few
new automobiles but many used baby strollers.
At its peak in the mid-1960's, John's had 527 stores along the Eastern
Seaboard and in Puerto Rico.
"Our plan is to blanket the United States with John's units and to
ultimately have more stores in operation in this country than
Woolworth's," Mr. Cohen said in an interview with Women's Wear Daily in
1964.
A Woolworth spokesman had said, "We wish them luck."
Three years later, John's was in full retreat, the victim of
over-expansion, shoplifters and, most important, the yearlong absence of
Mr. Cohen, who had nearly died in an automobile accident. In 1967, the
company sought protection under federal bankruptcy laws. By the early
1970's, with new ownership, it had disappeared.
David Cohen, who always said his family was too poor for the luxury of
middle names, was born on Sept. 2, 1921, at a hospital on Rockaway
Beach, New York. He was the fifth and totally unexpected child; his
mother had thought she had a tumor. When she went to the hospital to
have it treated, he was born, making him the only one in his family to
be born in a hospital.
His father, Harry, began as a peddler with a horse and wagon and moved
on to running games of chance on the Rockaway Beach boardwalk. In
winter, he would buy the merchandise of a company going out of business
and rent a store to sell the goods.
This led to his getting his own store in South Ozone Park, Queens, New
York. For some reason, he named it John's, although there was no John in
the family. People began calling it Cheap John's, partly because it was
competing with two neighboring stores, Cheap Sam's and Cheap Charlie's.
Young David was needed to work in both his father's endeavors, and kept
transferring from school to school. As a sixth grader, he dropped out to
go to work full time.
In late August 1940, he had his first date with Blanche Schwartz,
bringing along a shoebox model of the discount stores he hoped to open.
They were married on Dec. 31 of that year.
Working with his siblings — Benjamin, James and Stella — David, as
chairman and president, expanded their father's concept into more and
more stores. Their father died in 1963 at 75.
At first, the children bought odd lots and surplus goods from
manufacturers, but as the company grew, increased bargaining power let
them order new products.
The company placed larger orders for single items than any other chain
in America, ordering 250,000 dozen of an item at once.
After buying more cheaply, it also tried to sell more cheaply, or at
least to undercut the competition. Its markup of 32 percent was 8
percentage points below that of most other stores. John's also routinely
bought things out of season: after Christmas, it filled its bins with
toys; ski caps were sold in the summer and swimming suits in winter. For
customers, part of the fun was never knowing what they would find.
The company also economized by using newspaper ads that covered large
numbers of stores, thereby cutting the cost per store. It accepted
delivered orders at warehouses, meaning distributors did not have to
make drops at individual stores.
But real estate was the most important factor. Mr. Cohen sought out
locations that other stores considered unprofitable and then drove a
hard bargain. He learned that former supermarkets were a good size, and
also that supermarket owners who had moved to larger stores nearby often
offered cheap rent to prevent another supermarket from opening.
A story he loved to tell involved the lawyer for a wealthy property
owner who disapproved of renting to John's because he considered it
déclassé. The client overruled the lawyer, declaring that she was a
faithful John's customer.
Brad Ferguson
<peri...@eudoramail.com> wrote:
> David Cohen, who led John's Bargain Stores to the top rungs of discount
> retailing in the 1960's, died on Thursday, May 30, 2002, at his home in
> Medford, New York, at the age of 80, from lung cancer. Cohen also had a
> home in Delray Beach, Florida.
The one on 14th Street in Manhattan was a horrible dump, and it smelled
bad, too. John's carried all sorts of junk, like $3 plastic cameras,
and Cold War paperbacks with titles such as "The Day the Soviets
Conquered America" and "Red China, Hot Lead."
Bizarrely, John's sponsored Sandy Becker's NYC kid show for several
years. I guess they thought kids would drag their parents to John's,
thanks to having heard the jingle endlessly. "Whered'ya, whered'ya,
where'dya save more? Where everyone shops -- at John's Bargain Store."
TTrocc7007
the mid-60's. and EVERYTHING came from Johns.
My Mom tells me of buying 10 packs of underwear at the place, and than
individually wrapping wach pair to make it look like we were getting more.
We used to scout them from the Subway. Crusing back to Woodside (Queens) on the
elevated we were all instructed to keep our eyes open for any new 'John's.' If
we spotted one, Mom would write the address down for future scouting puposes.
Brad remembers the SMELL of the stores, I remembert rows of Ajax cleanser, and
billions of 'second' and remaindered T-shirts.
I swear, for years I thought 'JOHNSBARGAINSTORES' was a single word!
I hadn't even thought of the place in 30 opr more years. I phoned my Mom (now
in her 70's and retired to Florida) with news of the obit. We reminisced for
quite some time.
And hey, whatever HAPPENED to ol' Sandy Becker anyhow? I'm STILL waiting for
him to read my 'Stump The Professor Hambone' letter on-air!
Tom Troccoli
Brad Ferguson
<ttroc...@aol.com> wrote:
> And hey, whatever HAPPENED to ol' Sandy Becker anyhow? I'm STILL waiting for
> him to read my 'Stump The Professor Hambone' letter on-air!
Sandy Becker died on 9 April 1996 at the age of 73.
The Big Professor and Hambone were two different characters. I
remember the write-in segment for the Professor, but Hambone didn't do
much more than dance around the Romper Room set to the tune of
"Hambone." (We have a koi pond, and one of the koi is named Hambone in
Sandy's honor.) I think everybody loved Sandy Becker.
Hyfler/Rosner
"Brad Ferguson" <thir...@frXOXed.net> wrote in message
news:030620022252518971%thir...@frXOXed.net...
I know I did. And Sonny Fox.
TTrocc7007
>The Big Professor and Hambone were two different characters. I
>remember the write-in segment for the Professor, but Hambone didn't do
>much more than dance around the Romper Room set to the tune of
>"Hambone."
>
Another poster mentioned Sonny Fox, he was amazing, but in truth my personal
fave must see was Chuck McCann who nowadays lives out here in Laurel Canyon.
Tom Troccoli