Who said “the customer is always right”?
The customer is always right Meaning The trading policy that states a company’s keenness to be seen to put the customer first. Origin Several retail concern used this as a slogan from the early 20th century onward. In the USA it is particularly associated with Marshall Field’s department store, Chicago (established in the late 19th century). The store is an icon of the city, although it is set to lose its name in 2006 when, following a takeover, it becomes renamed as Macy’s. In the UK, Harry Gordon Selfridge (1857-1947) the founder of London’s Selfridges store (opened in 1909), is credited with championing its use. The Wisconsin born Selfridge worked for Field from 1879 to 1901. Both men were dynamic and creative businessmen and it’s highly likely that one of them coined the phrase, although we don’t know which. Of course, these entrepreneurs didn’t intend to be taken literally. What they were attempting to do was to make the customer feel special by inculcating into their staff the di
