The Prophecy

Walt Neppl had one last DM trip before pulling up stakes for the Big Apple. One night he managed to have dinner with his friend Don Seibert, a fellow DM now with the important adjoining Ohio-Michigan district . They had done this before when their routes had swung close and it wasn't difficult to meet somewhere in between. Now they compared notes and talked about their families, and Seibert commiserated with Neppl over the New York move.

"Well, my friend, look at the bright side."

"Which is what?"

"Well, there's more to J. C. Penney than running a big store."

"There is?"

"Seriously."

"Okay, what?"

"If you do this thing rightand you willyou're in a good position on the New York Office staff. Not such a bad thing."

"In whose opinion?"

Seibert talked his friend through the frustrations of changed plans and the dread of working in New York. Neppl, in turn , had good DM advice for his friendand then a last laugh .

"Y'know, Don, they have their eye on you, too. Keep doing the job you're doing and guess what? You'll get sentenced to New York!"

Two years later (1963) the Neppl prophecy would come true and Seibert would join his friend in New York as head of planning and research. His reward for doing a good job there would be another promotion in 1966: taking over the catalog division, which, to stockholders , analysts, and associates alike, was a profitless black hole.