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Home || Ministries & Organizations || Our History || Calendar || Contact Us || Donations Harry Kockos Autobiography - Chapter 4 Kockos Introduction || <--Go to Chapter 3 || -->Go to Chapter 5 He immediately called up his broker, C.B. Jennings and Co. A few minutes later, Mr. Jennings himself came into my office -- shaking. He told me that he had had a call from Mr. Spreckles and that he wanted to find out about our credit bases. I gave him a few of the names with whom we had been doing a big business. The next day, Mr. Spreckles himself called me and said that everything was fine, telling me not to "be afraid, my son, to call me anytime that it's necessary." I replied, "Thank you very much, Dad. I will do what you told me." From then on, we bought sugar directly from Spreckles, as well as frome the C & H sugar refineries. Mr. Spreckles continued to be very good to us. Whenever there was an indication that sugar prices would be going up, he would call me and let me know. For that reason, I was able to purchase many thousands of bags of sugar at an excellent price. In about 1918, 1919, in addition to our local operation, we started doing an import-export business through brokers in Cuba, Canada, China, Japan, and other countries as well. Our sales totalled millions of dollars; but during the height of our import-export business, World War I ended. We were caught with millions of dollars worth of merchandise on our hands. Food prices were falling so rapidly that many wholesalers and merchants were forced out of business. Consequently, some of the men who had contracts with us were unable either to collect their order or to pay for it. As an example, I want to explain the situation in Havanna, Cuba. The merchandise which had already been shipped was stored in warehouses. So I went to Cuba in order to communicate with the buyers -- though forced to cancel many contracts, they were still in business. And because they were paying cash for their cancellation, I was able to collect approximately $75,000. I put this money against our contracts with the Wells Fargo National Nevada Bank. The principle owner of the bank was Mr. Hellman who apparently loved me very much; he called me "Son," and never refused us any business while we were importing and exporting. When the crash followed the end of the war, we owed Wells Fargo about $700,000; of course, they had all the side drafts in their hands. But because the market had dropped so badly, they gave me all the side drafts when I went to Cuba and told me to use my best judgement. And so they were very pleased to receive the $75,000 that I had collected; especially, when so many of the merchants to whom they had made loans had gone broke. Though I returned to San Francisco after four months, the Cuban situation was by no means resolved; Andrew went to Cuba for about three months and then I sent my brother-in-law, George Christo, to watch over the situation for a few months. But still, thousands of bags of rice and beans and other things were never unloaded from the barges and were simply thrown away. Furthermore, we had to dispose of the merchandise in other countries and in San Francisco, as well as in Cuba. But due to the excellent condition of our local business, we were able to pay the banks nearly the full amount which we owed. And with the growing wholesale grocery business we were finally able to pay for the remaining bonds in full -- plus interest. At that time, we were still doing business from our warehouse on 46 California Street. But the building was sold at the time that our lease expired and we received a notice to move out. And so we moved into a larger building on 348 Davis. Nevertheless, the place was still too small to take care of our business and we asked the owner, Mr. Booth, if he would add on another story. After thinking the matter over, he decided to add on; and with plenty of men on the job, the work was completed within a very short time. Of course, we had to pay extra rent for the additional space, but now we had even more room than we actually needed. In addition to the wholesale business, we were now manufacturing coffee and jams and jellies. One day, a broker contacted me and told me that he had approximately 5,000 bags of damaged coffee. I went down to the dock with him and found only a small amount of damaged merchandise. The rest was in good order -- though it had been accidently wettened, it had by now, dried out. The company accepted my offer of a few thousand dollars; I wrote them a check for the full amount and had the coffee moved to the Turner Warehouse, a public facility. At this time, the Taylor Co., a coffee, peanut butter, and spice manufacturer, went out of business. When the plant was put up for auction, I purchased some equipment and had it delivered to the new floor of our building. After the mechanics put the machinery in order, we were ready to operate. We blended the damaged coffee with some other coffee that we had bought and we began selling coffee, as well as peanut butter, at very low prices. For example, we sold the government several carloads of peanut butter and coffee, spices and jams and jellies. Our business was getting bigger all the time. Before I continue I want to say that, as wholesale grocers, we were able to help many, many men who were just starting out in the grocery business. And I'm proud to say that the name of "Kockos Bros." earned alot of respect and prestige in the business. The chain stores: Safeway, Purity, and others, came into California with a very strong force. Many retailers and even powerful wholesale grocers were unable to survive under such extreme competition; one after the other were forced to close their doors. We had also begun to lose business rapidly. Day and night, I was thinking and asking myself, "How can Kockos Bros. survive?" I decided that we must develop our own chain store operation; but when I presented the idea to my brother, Andrew, he told me that I was foolish. I did not dispute his remark. At that time, we had about twenty salesmen and I called them to a special meeting and we met the following day. When I explained the situation, I told them that the only we could compete with the chain stores was with our own such operation, "The Pacific Coast Food Stores." They all laughed very loudly, including Andrew. There was only one exception, Mr. Angelo Papulias and he agreed with me 100%. The meeting ended. The next day, I called a few of the intelligent grocers with whom we had been doing business for many years. I suggested that we have a special and important meeting in my office. Everyone came, including Mr. Papulias, and I explained my idea to them. I expected 500 stores to be included in the Pacific Coast Food chain, each store replacing its own sign with one that read "Pacific Coast Food Store." Every one of them loved the idea and was ready to put in a Pacific Coast Food Store sign. The arrangement was that they would pay $10/month to belong to the Pacific Coast Food organization. I was certainly pleased with this particular meeting. The following day, I immediately called a painter and had signs made. They were fifteen feet by three feet and within 3-4 days, Pacific Coast Food Store signs were being put up. At the same time, I purchased half a dozen printing machines and set up a printing shop on the second floor of our warehouse. Following the lead of the other chain stores we began to print circulars advertising bargain prices. Each store paid for these special circulars and distributed them in their neighborhood. In addition, our advertising was reinforced through the newspaper. We also published a book called the Pacific Coast Review that contained articles of interest pertinent to the grocery business and a wholesale price list; of course, Kockos Bros. were the wholesale grocers behind the Pacific Coast chain. We had appointed Mr. Contos the president of our organization and opened a new office for the Pacific Coast Food stores a few blocks away. (At that time manufacturers were not selling their merchandise to wholesale grocers; they were connected to retail outlets. Consequently, we had to open up new offices for the Pacific Coast Food chain.) During this time we were building up our operation. We were far more successful than I orginally thought we would be. Mr. Papulias and I were holding meetings with the different grocers. We would go to their stores with the Pacific Coast Review and with different circulars and ads. Our proposition was big enough to compete with the chain store movement and none of these grocers could turn us down. And as soon as we signed in a new new member, our painter made another Pacific Coast Food Store sign. Within a few months, about 200 San Francisco stores were included in the Pacific Coast Food Store chain. And now, we began to expand both into the Peninsula and the Bay Area. When we were finished, there were 423 Pacific Coast Food Stores located in: South San Francisco, San Bruno, Daly City, Burlingame, Menlo Park, San Mateo, Petaluma, San Anselmo, Redwood City, Berkeley, Richmond, Sausalito, Larkspur, Fairfax, San Rafael, Vallejo, Santa Rosa, Napa, St. Helena, Concord, Crockett, El Cerrito, Tracy, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Stockton, Turlock, Modesto, Lomita Park, Ceres, Paso Robles, Groveland, Millbrae, San Jose, and other miscellaneous locations as well. In a book form manner, our printing shop listed the names, members, and addresses of the stores located in the above mentioned towns. This publication was mailed to our food store members and to the union manufacturers with whom we had been doing business. There are two reasons for this: 1) Manufacturers had their own specialty men who called on the various stores, selling their merchandise through the Pacific Coast Food chain. 2) Each and every manufacturer would follow the progress of the Pacific Coast Food stores. At this point, the Pacific Coast Food stores were an independent chain store organization and we were receiving hundreds of letters from wholesale grocers located throughout several different states. After watching the growth and the success of our organization, they wanted some information concerning the Pacific Coast Food chain. And within about three years, Traverso Bros, wholesale grocers, S & W, Haas Bros, and the William Clauf Co., all began to implement the Pacific Coast Food Store idea. S & W couldn't compete and consequently, they tried another method to break the Pacific Coast Food chain; they opened up a cash and carry store, reducing prices on their major items to a ridiculously low figure. For example, sugar was being sold at only a ten cent profit. After a few days, I know we'd have to meet those prices and so I lost no time in firing all the salesmen, except for Mr. Papulias and a few others. I only kept four or five of the clerks and bookkeepers and I closed the offices on the second floor; we were all working in the small downstairs office. In this way were immediately able to meet the S & W prices and promote to cash and carry stores under the name of the "Andrew Commercial Co." (This was a seperate operation from the Pacific Coast Food chain). For many wholesale grocers, the situation grew worse; they could only close up their doors and go out of business. However, we were fortunate; between our wholesale grocery business and the Pacific Coast Food chain, we were doing as much business as ever -- but without the same profit. With all the work I had put into the grocery business, I found that it was no longer profitable. At this time, Mr. Papulias asked me if he could buy the Pacific Coast Review; it was doing a good business, advertising many manufactured goods and including other items of interest. He offered me $3000 for the book, a minor price. But because Mr. Papulias had worked so hard for me, both in the grocery line and in organizing the Pacific Coast Food chain, I decided to accept the offer. He paid me a thousand dollars in cash and we agreed that after one year I would start another book with a different name, to supply the Pacific Coast Food stores with a wholesale price list. At the end of the year, Mr. Papulias asked me to wait for one more year before I started publishing another book. I agreed to that. Kockos Introduction || <--Go to Chapter 3 || -->Go to Chapter 5 |