My grandmother used to be sure she was the first customer in the door of either of the two Jewish-owned businesses in the town where she lived. Supposedly a Jewish business owner is very reluctant to let the day’s first customer out the door unless he has bought something. I understand she was able to get some remarkable bargains that way, though it seems more than a little rude to take advantage of a thing like that.
Is there or was there really such a tradition? If so, what is its origin?
My Mother has told me of such things, having been originally born and raised in New Jersey, where, as children, she and her siblings were taken to NYC to shop. When they needed new clothing, they made sure they were the first customers in a Jewish clothing shop because, she says, the owner would give them great deals to make the first sale. It was something to do with luck. If they made a sale to the first customer of the day, then the rest of the day was going to go well.
I can tell you, from the perspective of Observant Judaism, that such an idea has no basis in Jewish philosophy, law or literature to the best of my knowledge.
The scientist in me (he’s a little guy) wants to know if your Grandmother ever experimented by coming in later in the day to see if the same bargains were available. Perhaps Jewish store owners simply gave better deals, regardless of the time of day. ;j
I was with my college roommate and his father (they were Jewish) one time. The father had taken us out to eat, and was dropping by to visit someone whom he had worked for many years earlier (another Jewish chap who was in the clothing business).
As they were chatting, the father chided him about how his (the store owner’s) wife never liked to let a customer leave without buying something. The store owner replied something like “Well, not always. It was mainly when we were having a sale.”
Strictly anecdodal. I have no idea how widespread it is.
How “widespread” what is?
What are we talking about here? The idea that merchants want everyone who walks into the store to make a purchase? I would imagine that is a widespread phenomenon.
I heard a lot about the old days up north as I grew up and had family members who still lived there who would come down and visit. They confirmed some of the stories, including the one about being the first customer in the Jewish stores. This, you must recall, would have been before WW2. Yes, prices were normal later in the day and the special deal was only for the first customer.
My Mother did say that they did not always make the sale, not being stupid enough to reduce an expensive item down to almost nothing, or the customer just found nothing of interest. We all know how such a tradition, if iron clad, could be easily abused by customers. I think they stopped at their purchase price of an item or even went below it if the item was an inexpensive one.
My Mother mentioned how she had seen a coat she wanted in one store, and her father went there early the next morning, made sure he was first inside and got her the coat at a huge discount because he was the ‘first sale of the day.’ The Jewish people have a reputation in New York for being shrewd business people, so I seriously doubt if such a tradition was going to actually take advantage of them.
You must admit, it drew in people, who remember it to this day. My Mother even remembers some of the stores! She also remembers being able to dicker with shop owners for bargins.
Slight hijack, but I would point out there is a Talmudic prohibition against sampling a merchant’s wares if one has no intention of buying anything…
Just thought I’d mention it. 
Guess that means I can’t date his daughter.
It doesn’t apply to rentals.
I have expereinced this in the far East, specifically, in Nepal and Thailand. On several occasions, merchants told me that I was the first customer of the day and so they would give me a really good price if I bought something because it would bring them a good sales day all around.
I wonder if they told the people coming in around 1:00 that they were the first customers of the after noon and so “I will make a special price just for you…”
My father, along with his brother and sister, had a small retail store in small-town Iowa, and I never heard of such a superstition. Now, I grant you, my memory wasn’t pre-WWII and it wasn’t NYC, but still. They were in business pre-WWII, and I’d a thunk that I would have heard about it if they had carried it on.
I think it’s probably along the nature of, “Start the day with a smile.”