As the company grew, it financed expansion by using the profits of one store to finance another. Each manager trained the next one, and each held a one-third partnership in his store. Anthony considered his core market to be rural and small-town people, and he paid close attentions to meeting their desires in merchandise. He also believed that the owners of a business cared the most about its well being. In 1926, he converted the company to a public corporation, but offered shares only to employees of the corporation.