1
Golden Rule Still Gll-tters
For Laym 'ons After 25 Years
The bossman called me into his office
and said: "One of the most interesting
stories in the Industry is right at our back
door. I mean Paul and Lucille Laymon.
Not only have they been active in the
business for 25 years, but square foot for
square foot there ate very Jew firms in the
country who do as much volume. Take
a run up to their place and get a story."
Hah, I thought, this will be a breeze.
I knew the Laymons are about the friend·
liest, most congenial coin folk I ever met.
I knew they always cooperate whole·
heartedly with the press. Because they
have been in the business for a quarter of
a century, it would not be necessary to
dig through countless files ,in search of
missing details.
'
The man who sticks his head into a
bee hive is to 'be pitied, but the news·
hound ,who puts his head into the Laymon
establishment and expects to receive un·
divided attention for 15 minutes is a
dreamer due for a rude awakening.
Thus began the intllrview·by·installment,
whose fragments have been fused together
in the interests of non·stop reading.
The life and times of the Paul Laymons
follow two well·defined lines: except for
Venture One, they have always conducted
a huge volume of business in amazingly
small quarters; and since their marriage
30 years ago, they have always teamed
together in business and social affairs.
Paul Laymon hails from Kokomo, In·
diana. His father owned a vegetable and
-
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to throw their hat into the ring and try
for a killing, but when they arrived in
Florida in 1921-in the company of Phil
Walters (a clothier), and his wife-the
peak had been reached and was heading
toward ebb-tide.
Paul scouted around for a business loca·
tion. He tried to rent store space but
found it scarcer than a $200·a·week phono·
graph spot. Finally he made a deal with
the proprietor of a bicycle shop whereby
the man agreed to partition the place and
give the Laymons half. The bicycler had
some restaurant fixtures he wanted to sell
and Paul decided to buy them for a new
-enterprise:' restauranting. '
, There were three cooks: Mrs. Laymon,
Mrs. Walters, and Paul. "We gave our
customers the best of food and service."
he recounts, "and it wasn't long before
we were serving the elite of the city."
After a year the Laymons, thirsting for
new horizons, sold out and bought a home-
made candy concern. The store was small
but volume was tremendous.
Ere long there were ' three stores in the
chain: two in West Palm Beach, one in
Palm Beach.
Phil Walters had gone back .to Kokomo,
and while there heard about A.B.T.'s one·
Target.
of the owners
A.B.T.,
man
named One
Bechtol,
lived in of Daytona
a cent
Beach. Knowing that the Laymons had an
insatiable interest in the new and different,
chicken ranch and for 34 years ruled the
Walters referred Paul to Bechtol, and ,
roost at Laymon's Corner, which included
shortly thereafter, the Laymon!; had a side·
a retail bakery, meat market, grocery store,
line-two of them, in fact: the penny
and fruit and vegetable wholesale house.
Target and a five-cent combination music
Volume has been a byword in the Laymon
machine and bell. The customer could
way of business. One year grocery smes
play the game of chance and' hear music
emanating from a paper roll piano attach·
reached a total gross of $469,000.
In 1915, Lucille Riley, assistant prin. ' ment at the same time.
cipal of Goldsmith High School in KemN- ,
The Laymon coin operations began
ton, Indiana, was visiting friends in Ko-
branching out; candy gross was sweeter
komo and met young Laymon. It wasn't
than their fondest hopes. Then came the
long before the 18 mile stretch between
hurricane. Beach locations, where most of
Kempton and Kokomo was b,eing traversed
the music-bell machines were located, were
with rapidity and frequency, culminating
assaulted by 32·foot waves and billows of
sand . . Machines were gutted, Targets
in a bell.ringing ceremony in 1917.
That was the beginning of an idyllic
water.logged, one candy store wrecked,
marriage which romanticists dream about.
and the others were damaged. Summer,
For 30 years they have worked, lived and
the slack season for candy retailing, was
played together-as near perfect a tea!p. as
approaching. Because of the cumulation
any mortals can hope to equal.
of adverse circumstances, the Laymons de·
Lucille quit as assistant principal and
cided it was time for a change. They sold
joined her bridegroom in Laymon's Corner
their merchandise and went back to In·
as bookkeeper. About this time the chain
diana.
stores were making heavy inroads into the
Bechtol was in Chicago. He asked the
territory. The elder Laymon had stored
Laymons io drop over and help settle a
huge stocks of merchandise, purchased at
bet. It seemed that he and Walter Tratsch
high cost in the days of scarcity, and
had a wager about whether there was any
when selling prices began to plummet, he
more virgin territory for Targets. The
sold the stores, retaining the 27.acre farm
Laymons took to the road to decide who
was right.
which he and Paul continued to run for
several years.
Their Midwest sojourn met with failure
After his father's death, Laymon decided
until they reached Burlington, Iowa, which
to take a fling at the retail shoe business. , was wide open terrain.
This lasted two months-then back to
Their routes were worked on the "horse-
fruit and vegetable wholesaling.
shoe" principle. They placed 50 machines
Those were the days when stories of the
in one town, then went on to the next,
Florida real estate boom were booming all
returning to the 'starting point two to six
over the country. The Laymons decided
weeks later. At that time they removed
OPERATORS
Since we insure hundreds of your present and prospective
locations as Insurance Supervisors for the Southern California
Tavern Association. is it not good business for you to insure
with us?
Ask the Operator.s Who Do So!
STE'PHENS & HODGSON
ZEIGLER INSURANCE AGENCY, INC.
'Successors to ErnIe Grahaml
1212 E. Colorado
Gleadale 5, Cal.
(Rear Entrance)
541 S. Spring St., MIchigan 0961
Los Angeles 13, Calif.
Specialists-Coin Machine Industry
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