The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-02-02
OUR NEW YORK LETTER,
SHOPPERS SHOULD LEAVE TIRE
MeNDOUS MARK DOWNS" ALONE.
The Commercial Nosmerizer The M.r-
camille Rob Hoy--Smnll W. Large shops
Tie Di,ugrcrable salesman The slave
Driver Customer.

trades you are sometimes told Of "A tremcn-
dous mark down in prices, Now some
time, there /, and sometimes there isn't. Tn
qucsliouably at Tunes "a merchant finds II
greatly % his advantage 10 turn goods which
may be ont of season into money rs quickly
as possible in order I. buy those which are IN
season and therefore salable Then th 70
may be "A fair mark down" Even then it
will do you no harm 10 be "A good judge of
the quality OF what you are buying.
Some people buy not because of the
quality Of the cloth or the garments,
but because it is stated or inferred 10y the
ticket placed on 1t that it is sold at price
much less than was asked for IL the week pre-
vious TIL, may he and again it may not be-
How do you know
You will rarely buy to such advantage
Of any special artco-say Shoes hats on
cothlng-in the smaller shops rs you will in
the larger ones devoted to ono kind of trade
Among the smaller shopkecpers are more
of those mercantile Rob Ruys who are de-
terminei TO force on you an article whether
it suits you or not. This for some customers
is n very annoying spirit 10 deal with. You
want that kind OF "A man 10 sell you Il pair OF
shoes or "a hat who wants himself to give you
"A fitting article, and have II fitting article go
out of his store and a well satisfied Gus
toner with it, both for today and to-
morrow, as the best advertisement for
his business You are moro likely 10 find
such proprietors and clerks in the
large, well ordered, systematical stores
than in the smaller ones, for the large pro
prietOr has business sense enough to know
that 10 sult "A customer permanently Is more
likely TO bring hlIn or her back to buy again
than If no succeeds once in selling the Gus
toner something, regardless whether it Its
or not some small shops Keep themselves
small in THIS way. The proprietor will almost
force an article on you lio will insist that
it is just what you want. lie viii make you
feel that you must buy Of him; that
you have no right 10 take time
to lool; and choose and select with
out buying, and that you have taken up his
time unwarrdntably and unproftably if you
manifest an inclination To leave without buy
ing. He may succeed in selling once-and
but once Iou have thus forced on you an
article which in u few hours You find you do
not like, and you feel the mans mind and
tuln 10 his counter again.
1t is possible that more stores are kept
small and from year to year doing small
business and on the ragged edge OF business
from this cause than any other. Such shop
keepers drive away the best customers \
man wants his tailor, or halter, or shoe dealer
to take "A real interest in him when he comes
to trade and be assured the buyer feels that
,,,., L., =
feel at home in thes re or shop. 1t gives
him confidence in the nan who sells. He
carries away from that store Il pleasant feel
ing III his mind, and this feeling remains and
comes to stay, and serves as an unseen cord
that brings him back again.
Yet t! is not always the case. Some Gus
toners had rather be- crowded and forced
into q bargain than not. They belong to
that class OF slavsh human nature which de-
mands and likes to be driven and tyrannized.
They can't understand the man who wants
to do tho fair thing 10y them. They want
somebody else 10 make up their minds for
them They have either no mind Of their
own TO make up, or they have mind which
can't DO made up. So the storekeeper is
obliged, II he would sell them anything, to
make up their minds for thcn-wAich no
docs, and makes them pay well for such
service.
If you see shop where the goods are i'll
arranged, where things have heller SHELTER,
neglected, squalid look, you viii find it II good
place in the long run to keep away from.
Such a shop is an advertisement of the pro-
prietor's mind 1t proves that he loves his
own neglected ways better than he does his
business lie may want your money, but he
is not SO likely to want TO suit you. He loves
his surhuess his Indifference to please you
and his own a2incss better than his business.
| know it Is a mistake to think that money is
the best loved OF all things. Some of Us love
our Satanic instincts better thun money, and
some men drive money from them by the
Satanic spirit they make the customer feel
In the large, well ordered retail grocery,
where everything looks clean, brushed up and
ON dress parade, you viii often buy better ar
ticics al IA less price than Is charged for the
inferior article ut II greater price IN the small
grocery At stores OF tins class | have
bought the best cheese at four cents pound
less than was paid for the SKINNED milk sub
tertuse kept AT the small grocery round the
corner, ami many other things IN the same
proportion. because the proprietor having
capital, backed 10y ol-er system and push,
buys { better advantage than the small
grocer and OF course can sell cheaper l be-
HcVe that the wealthy people Of New York
city pay less at retail for their
staple groceries than the poorer class
many of whom are actually afraid to trade
at the larger store thinking that because it
Is patyomiGed lay the wealthy It must be the
higher priced, Many of the smaller Shops
both as 20 management and motive, are exact
duplicates OF the mind and character of the
people who patronl2e them. They are on a
reckless, poor house plane Of management.
They buy from hand 10 mouth US their
customers buy from them. Their proprie
tors lack the courage, enterprise and fore
sight to extend their business. and any
business which is not being extended
and pushed into newer and newer
fields IL III reality going behind. The
proprietor, II is true may accumulate
in time few hundred or few thousand dol
lars, but TIC is helpless with it. He fears to
invest it in furthering his business, and as
his business remains from year to year about
the same he is gaining no new experience He
remains stationary, having about the same
amount of custom this year Us last, the same
income, the same expenditure. His few hum
dreds or thousands in bank are really of no