Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-27
MODERN BUSINESS METHODS.
How Trade is Developed by an Agency
- &. Yet In Its Infancy.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
IT very interesting to watch the develop
ment of advertising as it appears in the col
umns OF the newspapers. Departments Of
trade which formerly neglected that means Of
attracting attention are more and more learn
ing to profit by its advantage. Advertisers are
also becoming skillful in the literary construc-
ton OF their announcements, SO that now the
advertising columns Of journal really help to
enlivcn its pages, and they present a mass of
varied information of great value to the reader.
The representations Of the advertisements,
too, may be taken generally as honest and
truthful, for no wise dealer seeks to draw GUS
toners by false pretenses. He must have ON
his counters exactly what he advertises to sell,
and he must sell it at exactly the advertised
prices. Otherwise his advertisement does him
more harm than good. 1t may bring him in
ephemeral trade, but the larger the trade the
worse it will be for him in the end. His de-
ceived customers will make for him an evil
sagacity prompts the dealer to tell the truth
| about his goods when he advertises them in the
newspapers. Now and again a scoundrel and
sharper may attempt to impose on the public
by publishing swindling announcements, but
the number Of such is few, and it is growing
fewer. Moreover, the papers which such men
use as decoy are soon recognized. The
swindling advertisers after fools and gudg-
cons and they are shrewd enough to advertise
in the papers patronized by people of that sort.
The cheapening OF the process Of manufac-
ture during recent years has lowered prices
greatly. The advertiser accordingly can APP
peal to the great body of purchasers who must
be careful OF their money. Hence when a
large house advertises bargains it may be as
sumed that bargains they are. The quicker
their sales the more rapidly they turn over
their money, the more successful such dealers
are, and to get speedy sales they must tempt
purchasers with as low prices as they can offer.
The larger the trade they can attract by adver-
Using the better it is for each individual pur-
chaser, for the greater the volume of their bus
mess the smaller can they fix their average
profit.
That Is the great advantage of advertising. 1t
makes the business known, and by multiplying
the number OF customers the dealer obtains
the means of attracting more. He has more
money to expend on his stock, can improve the
opportunities which come so frequently to the
cash buyer, and can make his margin of profit
smaller. The whole success of the great re-
tail houses has been built up in this way
There are few of them which have not had
their entire development within very recent
years, before which they were little haberdash-
cry shops with q neighborhood trade only, or
they had no existence at all. There is not one
of them which does not owe its success to ad-
vertlsing.
In the clothing trade the history is the same
The houses which are getting the custom are
those that advertise most literally and most
judiciously, and as their custom increases they
are enabled to make their prices lower and
thus to invite wider range of the public. The
tailors who have followed their example are
reaping like reward and gaining the same adj
vantages. So it is also with the shoemakers
and, as time goes on, there will be no depart
ment of business which will not profit by the
lesson that experience teaches SO emphatically.
So far from having been completed, the de-
velopment of advertising is still in its early
stages only.