The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1872-01-13
lFrOm Lspupo0t Er DrceHbeEl
Business Thrift-The Secret of Mr.. Stew
arts Mercantile Success.

Probably the most striking Instance of adj
herence to a few rigid rules is afforded by the
man who is conceded 20 lead the mercantile world
Of this continent. Men envy his success who
might have stood even with him in the race had
they bat fnaexibly held to similar rules.
.r.. FIRST AND FOREMOST
in the stand which Mr.. Stewart took was the rule
to permit no misrepresentation Of goods. Pur-
chasers were not slow 10 find out that ia has Is
ENLISTMENT there need be no fear Of imposition.
Whether they were perfectly acquainted With the
nature of the goods which they wished 70 pur-
chase, or were entirely ignorant on the point,
they were sure Of having the truth told. Nh.
Stewart had 1t thoroughly understood by all his
clerks that they must tell the truth and be had
the injunction 80 cansPicu"uay piace1 that his
employees were perpetuany reminded OF the great
rule OF the establishment. II a clerk was dis
covered in an oyeEstatement orafalsehOod, be was
instantly dismissed The natural consequence Of
this was the rigid self advertising power of his
business. When men and women say, 60 or
send there, for you are sure 70 get Just what the
article is represented 10 be, then friends and
neighbors are not slow in ayailing themselves OF
such an advantage.
THE RIGID OBSERVANCE
of the .f one-priee system - was a rule necessarily
cooperative with the first. Dealers confess that
it is exceedingly difficult to maintain this rule,
and where a large proportion of business Is trans
acted on credit it is well-nigh impossible but
when the rule is, = Pay on delivery it can be
maintained.
Comfort is brought to the household of every
customer when he feels confident that he can send
a child or a servant to make q purchase, and he
will be sure Of not only getting the article he
wants, but obtaining it on exactly the same terms
as If he were 70 go himself. 1t is u great thing
for a merchant to discover that the money of IA
poor man is as good as the money of the rich
the cash of the stranger as good as the cash of
the acquainted.
In Mr.. Stewards vast establishment the clerks
have no option whatever in the regulation of
prices this, they know, can never be taken out
Of the hands Of the employer, -..
ENine-tenths of the terrors of shopping take
their flight in view Of these rules. and husbands
can pluck up courage to 90 with their wives when
they understand there is to be no badgering and
jewing. lz- 1--sze
z THERE Is Still ANOTHER RULE
with Mr.. Stewart, which has immediate relation
TO the comfort and advantage of the customer,
and that is his emphatic prohibition of any i'm
portunity to purchasers. Who is there, having
had any experience in shopping in a city, that
does not feel a kind Of terror of certain class of
stores? He retains n vivid impression of his
helpless bewilderment amidst a babel of recon-
mendations and solicitations, until, at last, in
sheer confusion, or from the desire TO escape, he
purchased an article he did not want. and went
out of the shop with an inward resolution never
to enter it again. But here you may gaze upon
millions of dollars worth of goods, and no man
will interrupt either your meditations or admira-
ton. Among the highest productions of the
cunning skill of man you may make your choice
without fear of the least intermeddling importu-
nifty.