The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-12-22
THE CITY RETAIL TRADE

The week closing to-day Is reported as ono
OF the most active with retailers. iobbcrs. and
dealers in general merchandise over known In
this city ut This period Of the year. Notwthsand
ing the cry Of hard times. the great retail estab
lishments up town are crowded with shoppers
and buyers from an early hour in the morning
till the time of closing. Now and during the holt
day week. tho chief retail dry goods and fancy
stores are kept open till or o'clock in the
evening. Between Fourteenth and Twenty
third streets. Broadway and Sixth avenue on
the west side. are 80 crowded. even during the
middle Of the day. that one is constantly iostcd
and ncommoded. Customers wait for their
turn in some Of the Sixth avenue stores. The
attendants in leading houses in various
branches OF retail trade have been for some
time past and probably will be for some time to
come. taxed beyond their capacity In showing
selling and parcolling goods.
This exceeding and unusual activity in almost
all kinds Of retail business-we say unusual be-
! cause the average sales per day are fully twenty
per cent more than at this time last year-is
not alone observable on fashionable thorough
fares. but extends from the Second to the Eighth
avenue. On the Third and Eighth avenues the
crowd OF promenaders is Of evenings greater
than on the more aristocratc thoroughfures.
The Eighth avenue Of an evening presents
very Kay appearance lust now. The whole
west side is ablaze with light. tho stores
are iammed full Of people. every one car
rics bundle. and every one seems pleased
Nine-tonths of the buyers are women. The
head OF n leading fancy goods and millinery
establishment remarked yesterday that the
sales OF his house for the current week I'm
the Wholesale and retail departments we're
greater than the stock carried by any similar
establishment in the country outside OF New
York This activity in millinery is significant !;
it shows that the wives and daughters of all
classes. from tho artisan to the mer chant are
enabled to enlarge their purchases Since the
panic millinery has been in the background. but
its time clearly is coming now. Walking down
Broadway. from Twenty TO Fourteenth
street. at about ga p. NJ. Of fine day is. to one
free from care and out OF debt. n most agreeable
and pleasant occupation Just ut this present
writing. II Is the fashionable hour. Pretty
and elegantly, not to say extensively. dressed
women are met at every step Faultlcssly ap-
pointed equpaRes line the side streets between
Broadway and Fifth avenue. from Eighteenth
TO Twenty first street. while the fair owners are
| cheapening goods at the great dry goods pal
aces. which abound in this locality Arnold.
| Constable Co.. Lord 4 Taylor. and Johnston
Brothers can certainly not complain Of hard
times, II we may Judge 10y the constant streams
| OF people WHICH pour htcduliy into tnclr cstuD-
lishnents all day long.
Fourteenth street. moro especially on the
south side. from University place to Sixth
avenue. has likewise become great thorough
! fare 1t partakes more Of tho character Of the
| Eighth avenue than Of Broadway. Rents are.
comparatively speaking. not high here and n
certain kind Of mixed business is rapidly TAX
! ing possession Of the street. However ono
| does not ms a rule. meet in this locality. either
a. shoppers or prOmenaders, the wealthy people
who frequent upper Broadway and the Fifth
| avenue.
The fashionable lounge at present is the west
side Of Broadway. from Fourteenth to Twenty
eighth street. and Of an afternoon. MS people
drive out 10 or return from the Park. Fifth
avenue. from Nineteenth street to Forty
second street This walk takes in the chiei
clubs. the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Dclmonico's
and other important establishments. all OF
which ar" more or less frcqucntcd by our
I tennessee doree. The most valuable and elegant
retail city trade is gradually locating on this
walk. The Fifth avenue. from Seventeenth "a
Thirty-fOurh street. will. in five or ten years
lethc Rue dc la paix. the Regent street. of Now
! YORK