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The Kresge Foundation |
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Sebastian S. Kresge and The Kresge Foundation
His friends, associates and employees referred to him as eccentrically frugal. Thrifty though he may have been, his associates and employees were among the first in the country to benefit from profit sharing bonuses, paid sick-leave and holiday policies. Ironically, it was reported that Kresge wore his suits until they were nearly threadbare and lined his shoes with paper when the soles wore thin. Thrifty as he was in his personal life, Kresge would become known for his public generosity.
Sebastian Spering Kresge was born July 31, 1867, in Bald Mount, Pennsylvania, to Sebastian and Catherine (Kunkle) Kresge. Both Sebastian Sr. and Catherine were poor while young Sebastian was growing up. Having recognized this circumstance early in life, young Sebastian offered to work full-time after high school graduation and gave his wages to his parents. They, in turn, paid for his college education.
While attending business college, Sebastian held various jobs - teaching, clerking, and owning half interest in a bakery. Then, between 1892 and 1897, while selling specialty hardware for a company in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, young Kresge met a dime-store merchant whose business strategies paved the way for a chain of "five and dime" stores around the country. The merchant was none other than F.W. Woolworth.
While learning the business from this master, Sebastian saved $8,000 that he invested in the J.G. McCrory store chain. Upon becoming full partners, Kresge and McCrory opened two additional stores, one in Memphis and one in Detroit. In 1899, Sebastian traded his interest in the Memphis operation for the Detroit location, forming yet another enterprise, the first S.S. Kresge Company. He then hired his brother-in-law as a partner and, for the next seven years, the two operated stores in six additional cities.
Raised a devout Methodist and staunch Republican, and schooled by institutions and mentors, Sebastian learned early on to work hard and save for the future. Those traits served him well because, by 1912, he owned eighty-five stores worth $10 million. Just thirteen years later, he had accumulated a total of 300 stores worth $200 million.
It wasn't until 1961 that Sebastian spent $80 million to purchase a chain of department stores known as K-Mart. In 1963, these stores, not producing a profit, were turned into Jupiter discount stores. But by 1966, about 4,200 persons worked in 670 stores that produced sales totaling $851 million.
Sebastian felt it was his duty to give back to society a large portion of the money acquired from that society. So, in 1924, he began The Kresge Foundation. It was founded to celebrate the S.S. Kresge Company's 25th anniversary. In the next 42 years, he made generous contributions totaling over $60 million. His simple instructions to the foundation were "to promote the well-being of mankind."
Since its beginnings, the Foundation's work has helped many communities with funds for "bricks and mortar" projects at the local, national and international levels. Specifically, the Foundation supports the construction and renovation of facilities, acquisition of real estate, and the purchase of scientific equipment.
At the age of 99, Sebastian retired. Only four months later, in 1966, Sebastian S. Kresge died. He had given most of his wealth and an estimated two and a half million shares of S.S. Kresge Company stock to the Foundation. In 1999, the Foundation was among the top twenty largest foundations in the country, with assets of $2.7 billion. Since its founding, The Kresge Foundation has given away nearly $1.5 billion.
Sebastian S. Kresge wanted to "leave the world a better place than he found it" and he did. Because of his work and that of The Kresge Foundation, hundreds of thousands of individual lives benefited from the projects undertaken by a wide-range of nonprofit organizations.
Today, the Kresge family continues its involvement in the Foundation. Dr. Bruce A. Kresge, grandson of the founder, is the current chairman of the board and his daughter, Deborah McDowell, was elected a board member in 1999.