STORY OF FOUNDING AND GROWTH
OF SEWARD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL FIRM
Both Members of the Firm of Brown & Hawkins Are Old
* Sourdoughs Having Been in Business in Knik,
•Valdez and Other Parts of Territory
Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Hawkins,
when interviewed by the Gateway,
were manifestly afraid that the rep
resentative intended to weave a “suc
cess,” story about them and their cor
poration.
For, although success has crowned
their quarter century of operations in
Alaska, neither of them seems to see
anything unusual about it, and neither j
assumes to be more than an ordinary j
business man.
The Gateway felt that a story of
real interest lay behind all these years :
of storekeeping in Alaska. “What is
the chief difference between storekeep- j
ing in Alaska and in the States,” Mr.
Brown was asked.
“There are many differences,”;
he replied. “In the first place, one
must remember that Alaska is sepa
rated from the States by fifteen hun
dred miles of water, and as long as !
we must import all our manufactured
goods and most of our foodstuffs, the ;
Alaskan merchant is deeply affected. ,
“There is the question of transpor-1
tation, which is naturally costly, but
the cost is a detail beside the ques- j
tion of managing a stock of goods in j
such manner that the customer’s j
wants may be supplied without de
lay; the inventory kept at a mini
mum, and yet not be allowed to run
out.
“For while the retailer in the
States can let his stock go down to
the last case, and then ’phone his
wholesaler and have a new supply
within a few hours, in Alaska we have
to anticipate our wants for at least
two months or more, and it is also
-very difficult to watch the markets
from such a distance.”
Mr. Brown explained that the word
“turnover”—that bugbear of so many
aspiring merchants, had a peculiarly
significant meaning in Alaska. Turn
over is, of course, the ratio which the
volume of sales bears to the amount
invested, i. e., a turnover of four
means that the inventory has been
sold four times during the year.
With the barrier of time and dis
tance between him and his market,
the Alaskan merchant naturally finds
it impossible to speed up his turnover
to anything like what is had in the
States, and the result is that more
capital must be invested than would
be necessary elsewhere.
“Another feature which bears on
the turnover, and hence upon the
selling price, is the diversity of de
mand,” Mr. Hawkins explained. “For
instance a man in Seattle will go to
one store for a suit of clothes, and
another for groceries, and if he wants
a special automobile part which can
not be found 'in the city, Ihe need
wait only a few ‘hours for it to come.”
The partners walked through the
etore and pointed out what an enor
mous and variegated stock rwas car
ried.
A fisherman was looking at nets,
in the .Ship Chandlery department,
and a sportsman was asking for a
certain little known model and cali
bre of rifle in the sporting goods sec
tion. A few minutes walk through
the departments .showed a demand
for an amazing variety of articles—
and tihe stock in shelf to fill that
■demand.
In the portion devoted to machine
parts, Mr. Brown picked up a com
plicated brass rigging and held it
out.
“This is a butterfly valve,” he ex
plained. “It is fused on piledriver
engines, and will probably be on the
shelf here for three years before it
is asked for. Quite often articles
of this kind cannot be found in stock
in the city of 'Seattle, and yet when
a logging engine or a piledriver
breaks down one of these days, we’ll
be expected to have this ready.”
We went into the packing room
and watched a much-harassed ship
ping clerk painting queer names on
boxes.
Here orders are put up for fox
ranches, for farmers; for mines, fish
ing boats, trappers, logging Camps,
and a dozen other varieties of indus
try.
They go out by automobile, train,
gasoline lunch or steamer, and be
fore arriving at their destinations
may be carried on pack horses"; by
dog teams; by airplane, or on men’s
backs.
Each order demands its own indi
vidual treatment; if it is to be car
ried in a dog sled it ifiiust- come un
der certain definite weights and
measurements, and the eggs must be
wrapped in tissue and packed in a
crate which is then covered with
canvas to present freezing. If it is
to be packed on horses, another set
of requirements must be fulfilled, and
the shipping clerk is obliged to have
all this information and a complete
picture of freight routes 'in mind
every minute.
In the clothing department we saw
moccasins and muckluks, as well as
parkas and other garments which
would seem curiosities to folk in the
States, and we saw too that the
shelves were filled with merchandise
which bore familiar names—names
which appear in magazine , advertise
ments, and street car cards.
“Alaskans are the greatest readers
in the world, iMr. Brown said. “They
know good merchandise and will have
nothing else, for most of them have
had at some time or other, some
dear experience in camp or on the
trail with goods that weren’t just
the best.”
Early in the career of Brown &
Hawkins Corporation, the red and
blue Swastika which every Alaskan
knows, was selected; the trade slo
gan “Quality First” was adopted, and
it is the cardinal principle which all
those associated with 'the stores fol
low today.
For in Alaska, Mr. Hawkins ex
plained, the initial cost of an order
oof merchandise it quite often only a
small portion of the cost landed. A
man may neck his supplies in over
forty miles of glacier or float them
down the river, or pack 'them in over
the ice—he may even have them car
ried into some inaccessible place by
airplane—and when he has landed
his freight and commenced his sea
son s work, ihis supplies simply must
open up in perfect condition.
We talked of other conditions which
a merchant must meet in a frontier
country, and Mr. Brown gave an’in
teresting insight into community af
fairs in speaking of credit.
The merchant in Alaska is a vast
ly different man from his brother
in the States,” he remarked. “Here
he has his part to play in the devel
opment of the country, and a very
important part too. It is not simply
a question of buying and selling
goqds, but one must throw in his
lot with the country and with its
people.”
“Our business house was the first
one established in Seward; we also
kept a pioneer store at Knik before
the railroad came, and moved it to
Anchorage in 1914. In all these
towns we have seen both good and
bad seasons, and have kept high ser
vice standards through it all.
“In common with other Alaskan
merchants, we have been very liber
al in our credit dealings, and it is
amazing how often an apparently per
fectly feasible development project
will come to ruin for not reason at
all. In such cases one will find that
the merchants are heavy losers, but
then Alaskan merchants have to be
good ’osers.”
The question of competition with
Outside bouses was brought up, and
A Vegetable Display by Brown & Hawkins Corporation, All Grown in Seward and Immediate Vicinity
disclosed a few more troubles for -.he
merchant.
In Alaska, we learned, there is no
means provided for assessing taxes
on real property outside of city lim
its, and there are comparatively few
incorporated towns in the territory.
In place of the usual land tax, the
Federal government collects a Bus
iness Tax from those engaged in bus
iness, and as most merchants are in
incorporated towns they also pay a
good share of the property taxes too.
Aside from a poll lax of $5, col
lected from a certain class of male
residents, 'the burden of taxes ap
pears to be spread between business
houses and certain mines and fisher
ies.
And, naturally, the business houses
are expected to contribute to all
commercial club work, and many oth
er causes which are not for their ex
clusive benefit.
Alaskan business 'men face this as
a natural condition—'the Organic Act
specifically prohibits the Legislature
from repealing this law.
“But it does rather irritate one,”
...
in through 'the surf, and then opened
a little store.
T. W. Hawkins arrived in Nome in
1900, via the Chilkcot Pass route tc
Dawson, spent some time prospect
ing in the Tanana country, and thence
went down the river to Nome.
In the spring of 1899 the great Nome
rush occurred, and the store pros
pered. But mining developments were
tempting, and the hard-won profits
did not last long.
In 1902 we find Charles E. Brown
and T. W. Hawkins in Valdez, t/hen
in the throes of the Nizina and Slate
creek stampedes, where they joined
their meager capital and an unlimit
ed amount of grit in forming the
partnership, since known to every Al
askan under the name of Brown &
Hawkins, conducting a general mer
cantile store here. In 1903 Mr. Haw
kins came to the new town of Sew
ard—terminus of the proposed Alas
ka Central Railway, where he opened
a small general store, at the same
time starting construction on a larger
store .building, whioh 'became the
first unit of the firm’s present busi
The President’s Band Giving a Co ncert During President Harding’s Visit
said Mr. Brown, with a smile, “to
consider that Serious Drawbacks or
John Montmorency is able to ship
his parcels from New York to Alas
ka, for exactly the 'same parcels post
rate that we pay FROM SEWARD to
any point in Alaska.
“Last year we decided to go after
this mail order business anti we
printed 5,000 catalogues of over 100
pages each and when these catalogs
went out, we particularly 'felt this
discrimination.
“However, our catalog is something
unique in the merchandising field—
a mail order book with nothing but
nationally advertised goods in it.
And this year we are printing a 200
page book, which we feel will do a
great deal toward making Seward the
center of Alaskan mail order activi
ties. Some day we may get a zone
system in Alaska, and not be com
pelled to pay 12c a pound on a pack
age sent only two or three miles.”
The early history of Brown & Haw
kins reads like a romance.
Coming to Alaska via the Mckenzie
river, the Rat and the Porcupine,
Chas. E. Brown landed in Circle
City in 1898, and worked his way
down to Nome on a riverboat. In
Nome he got a start by longshoring
freight cargoes which were coming
ness location, in Seward. Following
the closing down of the Alaska Cen
tral Railway, Brown & Hawkins
bought the complete stock of com
missaries of the Alaska Central Rail
way, having complete faith in the
future of the town of Seward. In
1904, the firm’s interests in Valdez
were transferred to Seward, thereby
enlarging their already fair size stock
of merchanidse considerably. Since
the erection of tlhe first store build
ing unit in 1904, the firm has -con
stantly added to its holdings until
at present their business occupies
three large two-story buildings for
mercantile purposes, besides two spa
cious warehouses in Seward and a
large two-story store building and
several large warehouses at Anchor
age. In 1913, Brown & Hawkins
opened a branch store at Knik, and
shortly after one at Anchorage. In
1925 these two branches consolidated
with a location at Anchorage. With
the opening of the Anchorage branch,
Mr. Charles W. Bush, has /been prom
inently identified with the firm, as
manager of the Anchorage store. Mr.
Bush who is most favorably known
thruout the territory, is a /pioneer of
the Valdez day|, and is at present
Mayor of the town of Anchorage. In
1920 the firm of Brown & Hawkins
reorganized and incorporated Under
the name of Brown & Hawkins Cor
poration, of which Mr. Chas. R
Brown is president, Mr. T. W. Haw
kins, vice-president, and Mr. A. H. L.
Meyer, secretary and treasurer. Mr.
Meyer has (been connected with Brawn
& Hawkins since 1917 as accountant
and office manager, prior to which he
was identified with banking and oth
er commercial enterprises, in tlhe
States. Among other members of
the Brown & Hawkins organization
who have been identified with the
enterprise for a number of years, are
Mr. Joseph B. Stanton, manager of
the Hardware department of the Se
ward store, since 1915; Mr. T. P.
Lorang, inanager of the Grocery de
partment, of the Seward store, since
1917; Mr. Paul Swanson, Grocery
salesman of the Anchorage store since
1920, and Mr. John E. Meals, ac
countant of the Anchorage branch of
the Brown & Hawkins Corporation
since 1921. The Brown & Hawkins
Corporation is at present conducting
General Mercantile Stores at Sew
ard and Anchorage, Alaska, and car
ries a personnel of 16 on its payroll.
Messrs, Brown and Hawkins, during
their many years of business activi
ties in Alaska, have enjoyed pros
perous and lean years, and both are
more optimistic today than at the
beginning. “A few years more will
see gigantic coal bunkers at Seward,
with steamers coming in from the
great circle route to the Orient, and
the harbor will he full of halibut and
herring boats,” Mr. Brown declared.
“No one can predict at this moment
what the development of 'this vast
territory is going to bring out, but
we know that the country will come
into its own, and when that day
comes, Seward will be the metropolis
of the North Pacific.
£5iown & £iawKins corporation have
the largest stock of general merchan
dise in the Third Division, and prob
ably in Alaska.
crown & Hawkins Corporation
maintain a large grocery department,
a well equipped hardware store and
a huge stock of clothing and men’s
furnishings, as well as goods for la
dies and children.
The firm, ofi Brown & Hawkins does
a general wholesale as well as a re
tail business. Everything is carried
in stock for the rancher, the hunter,
prospector, miner, fisherman and the
launch owner. Their business to the
westward runs into many thousands
of dollars each month.
Big game hunters coming to Alaska
can secure their complete outfits in
cluding guns and ammunition from
the firm of Brown & Hawkins. Having
been engaged in the business for many
years they can save the hunter money
by giving him just what he wrants,
with no unnecessary equipment. All
inquiries as to outfits cheerfully esti
mated.
Securely wrapped copies of the
Prosperity Edition will be mailed to
addresses desired for twenty-five cents
each.
i ncerl