SANFORD, N.C.--When Joe Purce goes into work early Monday morning, an hour or two before the doors at Kathryn's Hallmark officially open to customers, he'll probably take a little time to reflect on what a long way Riverbirch Corner in Sanford is from Fifth Avenue in New York City.

So don't be surprised if he gets a bit sentimental.

Dec. 1 marked the 50th anniversary of Purce's association with Hallmark -- a half century spent primarily working as an employee of the giant greeting card company, working for himself as an independent owner of various Hallmark stores, or in the role of a sales representative selling other lines of goods to Hallmark stores.

The Sanford Herald reported that in an odd way, those 50 years have brought Purce full circle: his first job after graduating from Iona College in New York was stocking Hallmark merchandise on the shelves of the R. H. Macy & Co. store in Herald Square in New York City, the flagship of the Macy's chain, in preparation for the Christmas holidays. Although you won't find him that often on the floor at Kathryn's -- the Hallmark Gold Crown store he purchased in 1998 and named after one of his granddaughters -- Purce still spends much of his time focused on inventory. Between making purchases for Kathryn's and for Fiona, the fashion, clothing and accessories store which shares space with Kathryn's -- and is also named for a granddaughter -- Purce stays busy making sure customers who care enough to send the very best have the best selection.
That selection has changed since Dec. 1, 1958.

"At the time all they had were greeting cards, gift wrap and note paper -- that's about it," Purce said of Hallmark, which was founded in 1910 when 18-year-old J. C. Hall started selling postcards out of shoeboxes in the Kansas City area. "Just after that they brought in albums, writing instruments, party goods, soaps, candles, picture frames."

Today, Hallmark is still owned by descendents of J. C. Hall, and Purce has been a part of helping annual sales grow to $4.4 billion and its product line expand almost exponentially.

Those first dozen years with the company, Purce -- aside from a six-month stint in the Army reserves -- worked mostly in association with Macy's. It was a time of expansion for both Hallmark and Macy's; Macy's seven stores in the New York City area eventually grew to 13, and Purce had the responsibility of making sure they had plenty of Hallmark merchandise. Those were exciting days, he says, working in bustling Manhattan, helping out with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and supervising sales representatives who called on Macy's. But in 1970, when the Hallmark Gallery store opened on Fifth Avenue with retail space and an exhibit area, Purce ended his association with Macy's to take on the job of retail manager. He played a significant role in the store's success, particularly with the store's exhibits in the store.

"It was a very big attraction," he remembers. "We put together these celebrity Christmas trees -- different celebrities would allow us to do a Christmas tree honoring them, and everybody would want to come see what the trees looked like. We worked with Barbara Eden, Barbra Streisand -- a number of different celebrities. It drew a lot of people to the store."

It was at the Gallery, incidentally, where Purce had an encounter with the Hallmark founder he'll never forget. Hall, then elderly, had come to visit the store to see how it was coming together. An exhausted Purce finally took a break from his toiling and went into the men's restroom, where he ran into Hall.

"'Who are you, young man?' he asked," Purce said. "I told him I was the retail manager. He said, "I need someone to carry my bags to the Plaza Hotel.' So I went back to the hotel with him and spent about a half an hour talking to him about his philosophy and about the company. This is a man who associated with people like Winston Churchill and President Eisenhower."

Purce tears up at the memory, reflecting on how much Hall meant to the company's employees.

By 1973, three years after helping establish the Gallery store and after 15 years of direct involvement with Hallmark, Purce decided to take what he'd learned from Hall and Hallmark and to venture out. He purchased a Hallmark store in a regional shopping center in Woodbridge, N.J. -- 2,400 square feet in a mall that gave him an opportunity to "try to do something on my own, rather than working for a corporation."

For the rest of the 70s and 80s, Purce owned a variety of Hallmark stores, about a dozen in all. But by 1990, he'd sold them and was ready to make another change. A business friend was managing Enesco, the company which created and marketed the "Precious Moments" line of collectibles. He needed a salesman to cover a large territory in New England and Purce took the job. He did that for more than seven years, but the desire to get off the road and settle down a bit -- and the opportunity to purchase another Hall Athelia Carroll.

Carroll calls Purce "a blessing to me."

"He's very knowledgeable about retail, but he also cares so much about his employees," Carroll said. "It's a better experience when you work with someone who cares so much. I love working for Joe. If they took him and put him in another company, I would follow him there."

Purce says friends and family have criticized him for working so much, but all he's ever wanted was to be able to work and be compensated for his time and effort, and to see a direct relationship between his productivity and how he's rewarded.
"Some people have hobbies and different interests," he says. "Mine is work. I truly enjoy what I do."