Middletown transcript., 1881-06-03

SitlliG dUlIdCblNO CAl1lD4D gnu
again scattering through the various
departments.
Such a general view will show that
most of these departments, forty-slx III
number, are arranged in circles about
the common centre. This centre is the
heart of the establishment, the seat Of
activity for the circulating medium, a
vital tide which flows to and from the
eXtremities at the sales-counters i'll a
steady double current during business
hours. The veins and arteries Of this
system of circulation consist of series
Of brass pneumatic tubes radiating from
this centre to all parts of the depot,
coming within convenient reach OF
every point in the place where goods
are sold. At these points the articles
sold and the money paid in for the saIhe
are given into the hands Of receiver,
who incl0SeS the cash i'll light steel
cylinder, having the interior diameter
Of silver dollar, together with state
ment of the sale, and sends it flying
through the pneumatic tube to the
| heart of the house. Here the correct
change is made by experts, five and
! twenty in number, who have this for
| their sole business; the transaction is
registered and the return made to the
selling counter through the tube. In
the meantime the goods, if to be deliv-
cred at once to the buyer, have been
wrapped up and are handed over, with
the change, the whole operation occu-
pying only a few seconds. The Grand
! Depot inaugurated this method, and, as
| it is already being adopted III New \ ork,
] it is proper to make note Of the fact.
, This one feature of introducing the
pneumatic despatch is destined of itself
to work a revolution in business meth
ods, and it is only just Mr.. Wanamaker
should be credited with the foresight
and sagacity which effected this among
many other improvements.
The Business.
The underlying idea of Mr.. Wana-
makers great undertaking, as above
shown, to bring the producer and the
consumer into the closest possible re-
lations to offer the article wanted with
the least possible amount of intermedi-
ate handling between the one who uses
it and the off6 witt makes it. it This his
idea has also been the foundation ON
which all the cooperative stores and
protective unions Of various descrip-
tions have been built up, but it has
never been 50 successfully and satisfac-
torily put into practice as at the Grand
Depot. The methods by which this
success has been attained are simple
enough, as the methods Ofall great en-
terprises necessarily are. The watch
words Of the business are, veracity,
courtesy and accommodation, and these
are made effective throughout the es-
tabliShment by means of organization,
order and discipline. Veracity gives
accurate information as to the quanti-
ty, quality and character of every article
dealt in, not leaving it to the keen bar
! gamer t. get the better Of the unSO-
phisticated, but putting each on the
sure foundation of knowing exactly
what they are getting If piece of
goods is part cotton and part wool, it is
not only stated, but the proportion of
each is given, and so with everything
that crosses the counters.
Courtesy treats all alike with kind
ness and polite attention, old and
young, rich and poor, friends and
strangers, the buyer of paper of pins
or of a ten-thOusand-dollar trouSSeau,
or of nothing at all. And this is another
matter not left to chance, but in every
department ladies and gentlemen are
in waiting, whose Office it is to welcome
visitors and to extend to them any aid,
assistance OF information within their
power to bestoW.
Accommodation offers to the buyer
the very thing wanted at the lowest
possible price, and offers, furthermore,
every possible facility for supplying the
want quickly, easily and conveniently.
In every one of the many lines Of goods
represented skilled sUperintendentS are
constantly on the watch to keep up a
/ full supply in each detail of the stock,
in each grade, and in every form, size,
! color and quality of each known to the
trade. In every line of goods there are
t-of-the-way items which only one
| customer in hundred Thousand will
ever want, and therefore no ordinary
store preteIds to keep such things
always in stock, but the hundred thou
sand customers call at the Grand Depot
every few days, and therefore the stock
must include everything that can be
\ called for.
Another point to note in this aspect
of the business is that the extent of the
4 trade in foreign goods, amounting to
millions of dollars annually, enables
/ Mr. Wanamaker to retain the services
4 of a resident buyer in Europe, this
being the only strictly retail house ever
enjoying such an advantage. The ex-
perienced expert who represents the
establishment abroad deals directly
with manufacturers, and original pack
ages from France, from Germany, from
England, as put up at the factory, are
shipped straight to the Grand Depot
and opened to supply the consumers,
passing through no other hands on the
way. The foreign buyer, being always
in the market, and purchasing in the
largest lots, not only secures the lowest
prices at which goods can be made, but
is kept advised of the best patterns, the
latest designs and the newest products,
oftentimes securing the entire manu-
facture of novelties in choice and desir.
able fabrics.
Accommodation, furthermore, ex-
tends to the customer the privilege of
returning purchases if found in any
way unsatisfactory, the epurchase-lnoney
being promptly and unhesitatingly re-
funded if desired. The common and
trying experience of finding that goods
do not look quite the same at home as