Bernie Marcus Quotes

“The key is not to make the sale. The key is to cultivate the customer.”

“People used to believe only a professional could do tiling or install track lighting. That's utter nonsense.”

“Listen to your people then implement their great ideas.”

“Too much bureaucracy hinders success.”

“Model the behaviors you want to see more of.”

“Take a long-term approach with your customers.”

“Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.”

“Spend time with customers to find breakthrough ideas.”

“As a kid, poor as we were, my mother had my brothers, my sister, and me give our ice cream money to charities. Her sincere belief was 'the more you give, the more you get.”

“Focus your energy on the future, not on replaying the past.”

“You now have a prominent job. But you don't have a significant job. Don't confuse the two.”

“If I can save them $100, why not do it? That reflects one of our values: caring for the customer.”

“The only significant jobs are the ones that help customers.”

“Bernie is a combination of brother and a father-figure — and a rabbi. He's a great storyteller and a great joke-teller... and I'm a great audience. He would tell the same stories, and I would keep laughing at the same stories. It was like a very good marriage.”

“What happened was that we actually changed America.”

“The same brains that created their wealth can create good things for society.”

“My mother, she always said to me, Bernie, you could be anything you want. This is America.”

“I'm just a retired, beaten-up retailer, a first-generation American who started my life in a tenement apartment in Newark, New Jersey.”

“If ever I saw an associate point a customer toward what they needed three aisles over, I would threaten to bite their finger. I would say, 'Don't ever let me see you point. You take the customer by the hand, and you bring them right where they need to be and you help them.'”

“I'm one of the very few people that wants absolutely nothing from him. There's nothing that he can do for me. Nothing. Zero. I'm living my own life.”

“I'm not driven by ego; I don't need to have my name on the building.”