Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-04-04
ENGLISH SHopWALKeRs.
NJ Duties Of These Persons and Ho~
They Carry Themselves.

NJ Duties of These Persons and How
They Carry Themselves.
II would appear that the draper has al
make a joke, and the shopwalker especi'
ally has come in for a huge share Of the
attention OF many writers. Whether il
b because the duties of this individual
make it necessary for him to be a model
q cleanliness and politeness, or whether
b is because he occupies such a conspicu
Gus position that he receives so much at
t%ention, it is hard TO say; but certainly in
all concerns of any magnitude the shop.
walker plays a very important part, and
% him is intrusted the carrying out OF
Che rules of the establishment, In som,
houses, where the business is not large
enough TO keep sh~opwalkers ~and,buyers,
1t is usual for the latter to undertake the
duties of shopwalker and buyer; but in
he largest houses the buyers have sufli.
sient buying and marking to do to EN-
ploy their whole time, and then the shop.
walkers duties are strictly confined to
enc routine.
As a rule he is the n toopen the shop
and see that the '~'squaiders' are all in
their various departments at the prope,
time and that the busting of the various
departments is properly attended to.
After an interval for breakfast the shop
walker is found ''on the boards" where
he will renal all day, with the excep.
zion of the interval for meals. In a large
concern it requires all the tact and sa.
gacity Of the shopwalker 10 see that each
customer is properly served, and there is
very little time for him 10 stand at the
Aoor and bow to all the carriages as his
eompeer did in Queen Anne's time. A
clever shopwalker is always on the alert
10 take up scraps" and in very many
Instances he is successful in making =
sale where an assistant has failed to do
%. And this is often not because Of the
ability of the assistant, hut for the reason
Of an additional argument in favor Of the
purchase. During the busy part Of the
Gay it requires no litS~ mount of energy
On the part of the shoJnalker TO see that
the counters are kept clear, as he knows
chat it is utterly impossible for customers
20 be satisfactorily served when the
counters are in a middle.
An important part of his duties, too, L
10 see Aat the right aslistants serve the
most Important customers. BY long ex.
perience the shopvalker soon finds out
which are the tabs among his GUS
TONERS, and these are handed over to the
eleverest of his assistants, some of whom
are capable of encountering the yilest
.'tabs" that come into a shop. "a a rule
customers know pretty well what they
want, but in exceptional cases there are
people who enter drapery shops whose
minds have TO be made up for them, and
Il requires no little amount of tact to deal
with such individuals without getting
Che ''swap.' But to their credit be il
said, there are saleswomen and statesmen
IN the drapery trade who are capable Of
making a sale to the most cantankerous
Individual, and that not by any set
method, but by treating his customers
according to their several weaknesses, in
something the same manner as Sam
Slick treated his horses-by ''soothing
The fractions ones, encouraging the timid
ones and lathering the sulky mes like
blazes."
The last method will hardly commend
itself to most people, but it often happens
chat it is necessary to speak very sharply
% some customers before they can be got
70 make up their minds. And when the
assistant has used every effort without
avail, the word is passed sign and this
brings the shopwalker TO the fore, and
chen both try their best, and it is almost
certain that the sale will be effected.
Tales Of lodges OF shopwalkers with
''tabs'' are numerous. One very COM
mon practice in selling dress fabrics is to
put a piece each on four or five chairs in
a casual manner. as if TO show them to
the best advantage. and 10 harricade the
customer 50 that she can't very well bolt
without making a purchase. Another
very common practice, and which is fire.
quently successful, is to put aside the
articles there is n difficulty in selling.
and show something else, returning 60
The first article at a convenient time
Warehousemen and Diapers Journal.