New-York tribune., 1881-03-28
COOPERATION IN DRY-GooDs'

W
r.DfKJ COOPERATIVE DRESS ASsoCIAIIoN-A
CONSIDERATION OF PROFIT AND Lo's-ENGLish
ANn AMERICAN SHOPS AND sHoPPERs-FlGUREs
FROM THE BOOK, OP GREAT ksIABllsh"HNi
To me EDITOR orfhe Trto oHms.
Sin. The Cooperative Dress Association discon-
tinued the receipt o. share subscriptions on MONDAY
afternoon. Itis, therefore. presnmaoe nat ail the
| shares are now taken. | have purposely deiayed
o-nressin, nv ON views on the suuject until this
time. frst because was unwilling to make IL possl
bIe for siIlv peope to cry out that the merchants
| 80 hoctnnno 10 trenSe and secondly, because
for reasons which shall give presently am very
auious that this experiment Of cooperation shall be
| ,risd wonld premise fuTther-and l say this in
rder IN forestaIl the opinions OF those who are al
vavs searcbipQ for the selfish motive-that the men
tion of facts should not be interpreted as method
| of advertisement. am necessarily compelled TO
draw some of these facts from the business IN which
am personally interested, because they are the only
bnsness facts of which can speak authorltatively
and from personal knowledge; out / am very sure
rnat the same facts WILL upon inquiry. prove them
selves equally or approximately true OF every one oil
the great establishments with which we have had
the honor of competing for the retail drygOods trade
| of New-York.
Now having cleared the way by these prelimina-
ries let us 90 on and consider the case. The neces-
sIty OF adv'sabtity Of opening Cooperative Dress
Association IN New-York can have arisen only from
one or more Of the following facts Either the Ia
dies have hitherto not been atle to supply them
selves with goods Of suli ,ently hne quality; or
they havs not been able to 30 their shopping with
convenience or comfort; they have not been able
IN Mace implicit confidence the representations OF
onr merchants or they have been compelled to pag
too large profits on their purchases. Before discus
sinp these possibilities in detail. would say that
after personaliy STUDYING the character ana methods
of the great Eur opran stores can truthfully and
most emphaticay affirm that nowhere IN the world
are the wants of ladies cOnscentousiy studied no
where is much attention PAID to Their comfort I'D
shoppnR nowhere is such an effort made 10 Improve
the quality of goods and nowhere are goods SOLD
with so little profit. as s done by
the dry goods merchants OF New-Iork at the
present time The OF this are not lar 10 SEEK
The great leading stores Of the city are to-day con-
roled by young mea; men whose tastes are simple
whose wants few men hred oy what ml9ht DO
termed a thorough New York ambtion-an ambition
not 10 make the most money. but rather TO do thc
largest trade 20 have the best managed store. and to
no able to sell the best possible goods at the lowest
possble prices This ambition, fortified as IT 10 by
restles, energy tireess industry abundant capital,
large experieneo and good education, IL almost
| resistless and il s this fierce ambition, with the
CONSEQUENT fierce competition. winch has bTouRhtthe
large retail stores of NewYOrS to the present degree
of perfection II is this spirit OF competition which.
in times past led to SterGs selling 81 kid gloves Tor
a penny n pair 10 AltmanIs selling 81 wrappers for
6fty cents TO Macys selling straw mats for a cent
apiece etc. etc Men OF this stamp would rather hive
on bread aud wnter tbau be uudersOldi and the Only
advantage which anY one of us can gain over the
Others arises either from acquiring the control OF
some special article OF manufacture, or from superior
strategy IN makI1g sweeping cash purchases of large
lots OF merchandise
CoMpLETRNEss OF NEw-YORK FToRTs.
That any person should claim that ladies cannot.
m New-York CITY, Obtain goods of sufficiently fno
quality. imagine hardly possible. Compare these
contrasting facts The whole capital of the Coopera
tive Dess Association with which It IL Intended to
supply stock for some twenty-five departments, Is
$3.50 900. For the stock oi dre's silks, It viii az
most De able to allow $4,000 Now 1t spretty well
known that the average stock OF dress silks alone
Of several of our great Broadway establish nents
amounts to between q quarter ard half million
dollars in value. This needs no comment
As TO the question of The comfort and convenience
in shopping. would say that the merchants oil New
York have made it an especial stnly aud the bene-
6ca effects Of tins studV mnst be appreciated BY any
lady who has done shopping IN either Paris London
Berlin OF Vienna.
Regarding the reliability Of merchants no Rrratrr
guarantee could be gwen than the liberal practice
prevailing in our city. Let lady, IN any oi our
leading stores make purchase with which she IS
dissatisfied she may return It, and an exchange
will be made or the money promptly refunded.
As reyards the quaIty of goods offered, MAINTAIN
(and believe that whoes ale merchant VIII gam
say Itl that the really remarkable improvements
winch have been effected Ia tie quality OF iadieS
and children's apparel within the last ten years.
hov hee hrou abOut
ton Of the all merchants TO improve tie stand.
| ard and by the wholesome influence thus e1erled
on the mann lactnrers A. Illustrative of the more
than eXiT me care taken 70 Improve the standard 0t
manufactured goods. | narrate the following Incl
dent when took place within the last few weeks:
| A manufacturer Of infants clothing delivered an
order for expensive infants shp5 at The store
| of Oae Of our competitions. The buyer oi
| the department examined the slips and pronounced
them without fault Next came the ex,
aminer of reserve stock, who examined
| the slips and SAID they were satisfactory. Next
! came the lady manager Of the infants department,
examined the Slips and agreed IN thinking them
| perfectly finished. Finally came the head OF the
house, who examined the slip, and. within minute,
declared the goods wholly unsatisfactory. ana ordered
| them 10 be returned u the manufacturer. Now
where was the trouble The manniaclurer,ln in place
Of telling The entire scam OF the sleeve IRON Gun 10
shoulder, had only ieed abUnt four inches from be
| cuil leaving the rest of the seam raw and unhn-
| Ished. Buyer, examiner aud manager had not dis
cOvercdit NJ not one lady in ten thousand would have
noticed It and vet the painstahing proprietor OF
great establishment, OverDurdened win vast re-
frctiou and ln,l, cd on ITS beng rcmeded before
| be allowed the garments to BE- offered for sale. Let
| il be permitted mo 90 doubt whethOr the managers
Of the Cooperative DrtS, Association w as regards
quality. give their patrons the protection Afforded
by a merchnnt exercising such vigilance In behalf
! OF his customers.
FINAaCEs OF THE DRY GOODS TRADE
And now let us consider the most pregnant ques-
| ton Of all-tne question of the selling prices of
goods-in conjunction with the question Of profits
I reneat here that the facts which give are tTIIe
not only of our own business, but equally true Of
the other establishments. Articles which stand
ard such muslins, prints, spool silk, spool cotton
| and other notions. standard perfumes and soaps,
articles like sapoo, Florida water ETC.. are sold at
net enat Less than coa In depariment OF lade