In 1882 Michael Marks, a Jewish refugee from what was then Russian Poland, arrived in England and with a tray around his neck starting selling haberdashery in villages around Leeds in Yorkshire. In 1884 he borrowed five pounds from a wholesaler named Isaac Dewhurst and before the end of the year was able to take a stall in Leeds open-air market. He could not read or write English and so he put up a notice which read, “Don’t ask the price, it’s a penny.” Dewhurst’s cashier, Tom Spencer, became a partner. – Today, Marks and Spencer is the name of a large and respected chain of stores in the UK.

Source: Wesley Harris, 1998, Success is in Giving, Victoria, Australia: Wright Books, p.94