The Larkin Company

Born at 13 Clinton Street in Buffalo in 1845, John D. Larkin went on to become one of the most successful businessmen Buffalo has ever had. Developing from his experience in the soap industry with his brother-in-law Justus Weller in Buffalo and Chicago, the Larkin Company, established in 1875, became one of the dominant mail-order businesses in America. In 1885, Larkin and his wife's brother, Elbert Hubbard, promoted "The Larkin Idea," which brought the business a national customer base through "Factory to Family" direct sales. At the height of the company, 90,000 "Larkin Secretaries" established clubs to bring Larkin soap and other products to women in their neighborhoods. This system of secretaries and clubs created an external promotional engine unlike any other previously known. The company closed in 1967, leaving its mammoth footprint in Buffalo's Hydraulic neighborhood, now aptly called Larkinville.

Author: Shane E. Stephenson
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Library Editions
Published: 10/01/2018
Pages: 130
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.91lbs
Size: 9.61h x 6.69w x 0.38d
ISBN13: 9781540235947
ISBN10: 1540235947
BISAC Categories:
- Business & Economics | Corporate & Business History | General
- History | United States | State & Local | Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD,
- Photography | Subjects & Themes | Historical

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