The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-04-29
THE SHOE DEALERS WORRIES.
Customers w no Take His Time, Test His Good
Nature and Give Little in Return.


The shoe deaa srs of Washington street and
the immediate viz Unity have been observing the
early closing hourr for more than year. A re-
nortsr asked a lars dealer what effect this
movement had on HI trade Hesaid: 7 can't
see that II has affecte it in any way. Our sales
have Increased 20 per cent in the last yesr, and
we have not kept open q single night We are
satisfied with the arrangA sment, and DO not care
TO 20 back to the old plan. One thing has
happened that would never have taken place
under the old regime. My clerk there mas gone
TO business college st night during the past year.
and will soon graduate. He has taken course
in book keeping, and is OF much more service
to me now. On the whole, like the plan,
though, of course. am not in favor OF compel
ling man TO close up il he do. % not want fo- "A
man cert ainly has right to dr. 90 ne pieases In
that matter"
"How is the shoe trade nowW
IT hardly think it's going to be sts~eood as last
year Business in general will not De SO eooo,
and. of course the shoe trade must lAs affected
accordingly. I nudge by our spring trade. You
see the spring and the fall are the seasons Wnen
the shoe trade is best-this spring IL LAS not
been mp to standard. and scarcely tnia tue
fall rem ady the deficiency
HAS there not been considerable OF a en- aose
in the shoe trade In the last few years.
eyes. in many ways. One thing, sspeciak ",
ia Noticeable We used 20 sell large numbs r
of boots; now the trade is all shoes Zen yssn
ago the majority of men wore boots; now thsre
isn't one in hundred who wears them This
fact has made great change in shoe Stores h.ss
changed their whole internal arrangements an
appearance. The stock We carry now Is entire
ly different from what it formerly WAS We had
then large, glass cases in which boots were sus-
pended; now we have shelves full OF boxes In
which there 10 but one pair OF shoes"
do you find many good judges OF Shoes
among your customers"
mo do not. The shoe business is peculiar
in this respective have great number OF Gus
TONERS who think they know all about shoes,
and very few that really know anything at ALL
A man goes into jewelry store and trusts TO
the honesty of the dealer; he knows he don't
know gold-plate from the solid metal, and he ad-
mits it without trying to conceal 1T, but when be
comes into shoe store he thinks he knows all
about everything connected with it--thats one
of the peculiarities OF our business It's one or
the aunoyances We have to encounter said
most people didn't know q good shoe when they
saw il; well let me give you little incident 10
prove that It also shows one OF the tricks OF
the trade Some time ago lady came into the
store to buy 9 pair of shoes She said IN q very
smiling way, when she came in, that she always
bought the first pair shown her; she always de-
scri bed about what she wanted. land then trusted
to the clerk suit her. and was, IN fact. no
trouble TO deal with at all. Well, thought.
that just the kind OF . customer wanted
Most women hagRle around over BARGAIN for
long while. If they have an unshapely foot
and no last will fl them, they growl
at the shoe for not looking well on them, or
find some objection TO It,. To strike one that
q novelty, well as an immense satisfaction.
So FASTENED to get out nice fve-doll-r shoe,
which judged would about suit the customers
taste and wants. and am rarely mistaken In
my judgment of buyer-not over two or three
times in a whole week. can usually size
customer by his gen eral appearance. Well, 1
I could, with the remark. That is
just the thing you want, madame
here it is it's one of the neatest and best things
in the market and it never fails TO please L
was just thinking of entering the sale mp in the
day-b book. when she turned around. threw the
shoe down and said: 'Pshawi that shoes
account I don't want that thing Show me
something ese' Well, you may not believe me,
but it's fact: Ispent one hour and half try
ing to please that woman. / began here among
those shoes and / went clear down that side OF
the house and back again-nothing 70 suit.
nothing that she'd have. ] was mad.
amused and disguised by turns L
thought if she easy to please. heaven deliver
me from what she considered a particular Gus
toner Well. it WAS getting well along IN the
afternoon, when an idea struck me- I'd try one
Of the old tricks troublesome customers.
said TO her, oh, think Of the shoe You want
now. Strange 1 haven't thought of it before,
it's just the thing you want Well. went to the
back part of the store, hunted out pair OF the
very first shoes had shown her. selected the
left one this time, as had shown her the right
at first, and came back to her. smiling, confident
that this was going to catch ner
said why. why didn't you show me that at firstt
That's just what want Now you'll know here
af ter when come In what TO snow me. isnt
it Meet Wrap il up must be going. / have
some more shopping to do this afternoon Now
that shows You what customers we meet with,
and it also shows what judge of shoes some
ing to little trick under the circumstances
Who wouldn'tP
s.What is the average size of the shoes you
sell, for men and for women2"
The average size for men is a or 8, for women
about 81, possibly nearer A. One thing about
sizes; I think that can notice in my
experience as a shoe dealer that
the average size of weman's foot has somewhat
! decreased. No, I'll remodel that statement
little Imean that the average size OF the ladies'
| shoes sold is less Fifteen years ago women's
| shoes ran threes. fours. fves and SO on. Now
they increase in half sizes, but not content with
that we often have them ask for something be-
| tween a two and q two and half-that is two
and quarter. presume they win be wanting
two and eighth after . while By the way,
they generally inquire for less size than they
their trade, that we shoe men soon catch on to-"
.sHow about the farm trads2"
"Oh q granger is the hardest customer that
we encounter, He has an idea that all business
men consp;fe 10 extort much money out Of
him for any article that he buys az possible. and
so he becomes the most careful and troublesome
customer that we have. He seldom buys in the
first store he strikes IN q city but generally Wis.,
it's three or four places before he concludes to
invest / always make it q point to find out
how many places, if any. he has been, then
I know what to do and how TO strike him. A
good salesman. by the by. is artist in his
way. lie has to be good judge of human nat
ure wonderfully quick in his perceptions. It
requires great power of adaptability to be thor
circumstances that arise, and there only
few men who have it. Such q salesman need
never want for employment"
USES FOR COUNTERFEIT MONEY.
what Is Done with the aOueerr which Falls