three o'clock in the afternoon
The older man 's attention had been attracted to him by the chain he had developed of over six hundred separate retail stores , all dealing in the same commodities and each one an individual business success . Gorham watched him post his sentries at different street corners in the city he was testing to determine the density of the traffic , finally selecting the location where the crowd passed most steadily all day . `` I am never fooled by the noon-hour crowd , '' Covington confided to him ; `` they spend all their time eating lunch . I always keep away from streets where there are banks -- after three o'clock in the afternoon you 'll find as much retail business in the morgue . '' Gorham saw him rent whole buildings in order to get the particular corner store he wanted , and then organize a real-estate business to handle the rental of stores and offices which he could not use . He saw him arrange his show-cases and goods in such a manner that customers easily found what they wanted , were served promptly , and departed satisfied , to return again . He studied Covington 's system of turning over each new store to a chief clerk to be operated on a percentage , thus giving him all the dignity of a proprietor and stimulating him to his maximum activity .