Getting Down to Business

Within two days of my arrival in Wichita, I walked along Broadway Street and saw Innes Department Store. I had never been to a department store before. All stores in India were small, mostly mom-and-pop stores. As I looked around Innes, all that merchandise in one place dazzled me. No one living amid so much merchandise could go hungry, I thought.

Instantly, I had a plan. I requested to see the owner of the store. Very politely and patiently, a store clerk explained to me that there was a general manager, but no owner. That was good enough for me.

Before seeing the manager, I went to seek the help of a newfound friend in the office of my sponsor, Mr. Graham. My ears were still not tuned to American English, and I needed help to decipher what was being said. Together, we went to see the manager of Innes. I tried to explain that I would like to import some merchandise from my native country to sell from his store. He told me his store was part of the Macy’s chain, and they had an import department to buy merchandise for all the stores collectively.

“But I will be wearing my Indian clothes,” I said. “I will be the attraction. The merchandise will sell like hotcakes.”

I did not understand most of the manager’s answer. My friend explained to me that the manager had just agreed to give me six months of free space at Innes. That was totally unexpected.

Years later, I called upon the general manager to thank him for giving me my first start in business. By then he was the general manager of another store in Iowa. He told me that during our first meeting he had not understood most of what I said, except the word hotcakes. “If a kid just off the boat had already learned our colloquial hotcakes,” he laughed, “I figured he would do alright.”

Now that I had the space at the department store, I needed merchandise. I approached all of the dozen or so foreign students at the university, asking if they would like to get some native handicrafts from their homelands to sell at the store. I offered that I would trade them for stock in my new business. Only one of them agreed, a student from China, because she already had some merchandise available to sell. That was enough for the vision to be upgraded to merchandise from around the world, not just from India. Another newly-minted friend suggested the name International Bazaar, which stuck.

At the same time, I contacted most of the people I had met during my short time in Wichita to see if they would like to buy stock in International Bazaar. Practically everyone laughed at first but then joined. Some of them also introduced me to their friends.

A man I had just met that day told me he would join only after I proved I could raise the rest of the funds. “I will not need you by then,” I told him, bluntly. He wrote his check for $200 on the spot and said he wished his children who were my age would have the same guts. He was now the largest stockholder and helped me up my ante with other prospects. Later, I found out he was a wealthy man and a shrewd investor. After that first meeting in 1958, he took an interest in everything I did and invested in my business pursuits. He told me it was a cheap way for him to buy a front-row seat to vicariously experience my adventures.

Within a week, I had raised $1,800. That, to me, was a huge amount. Happily, I announced the stock sale was closed.

Right away, I sent a check for $800 to my father in India, asking him to send me some handicrafts. In an import-export flyer, I found names of people from various countries who wanted to connect with buyers in America. I sent a $50 cashier’s check to several of them. Fully believing that it would soon be a corporation, I explained what “we, a group of students” were doing and requested them to send us a shipment of their best merchandise as samples for future business. It was an act of faith to send the money with my letters. All complied, though a few took a long time to respond.

I did not know how to type, but typed anyway, using two fingers. It would take me a whole evening to type one letter because it was important for me to send only letters that were perfect. My little attic room was my office, even though I used Mr. Graham’s Broadway office as my mailing address.

It was not long before I realized that $1,800 was not as much as I had thought. Additional capital was needed. Television came to mind. I had seen television for the first time when I moved to Wichita. What a powerful means of communication! I thought. The medium fascinated me with its potential.

I went to one of the local TV stations, met with the president, and told him my story. He said it would be a great story if the general manager of Innes would tell it. Immediately, I went to the general manager, who laughed when I told him it was an “opportunity for free advertisement on TV.”  He summoned his secretary to place a call to the TV station’s president.

When the story was aired live, the TV host asked me how I intended to raise the money. “I am asking people now to buy stock in my company,” I said.

The next day, it was pointed out to me that I had sold stock illegally because it was not registered. I approached my law professor, and he set up a corporation and became a member of the board. Now I had a small team to work with. “I” became “We.”

The Chinese student who had some merchandise to sell became the symbol of our new venture. Dressed in her native Chinese brocade outfit, she made a striking impression. Innes ran a full-page advertisement with her picture to announce our arrival.

Ultimately, Innes gave us a year and a half of free space, and we expanded to two other locations.