The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1892-05-12
S. & c.. WATKINS

Among the r.any large and elegant
establishments in Henderson-and
there are not few-none is so extern
siyc in size. i'll detail Of stock carried
or handsomcr than that Of S. Il c. Wat
kins. The building is a magnificent
structure Of brick, iron front, plate
glass show windows. three stories high.
which. with the immense business
done within its walls, is living
monument to the industry and enter
prise Of its proprletOrs. Many years
ago Mr. Samuel Watkins came among
us and embarked in the mercantile bust
ness, and by untiring efforts to please
! his customers, fair dealing, and the
handling of good goods, always bought
! to best advantage, he has succeeded in
! building up a business not eXcelled
anywhere outside Of the large cities.
Every floor Of this mammoth building
| fairly grOans with the immense stock
which the firm carries, and purchasers
find no difficulty in making selections
from their large and varied assortment.
The first floor, divided by partition,
is devoted to clothing, hats. shoes,
eeu Is, Furnishings. &C., and millinery
goods on one side; aud dry goods,
notions, ladies' dress goods, &C., aud
the other. In each of these depart
ments can be found almost any article
desired, and of the best quality. The
second and third floors are devoted to
furniture, carpets, cooking and heating
stoves. builders hardware, SC. In
fact, there is hardly an article you can
name under the head Of general
merchandise that can not be found at
this store, and at such low prices TOO,
quality considered, that man who
would ask discount must either be
ignorant of prices or else selfish. To
speak Of their tremendous stock Of
goods is superf1uous. Their reputation
is established in this respect as first
class. All the departments are COM
plete with the finest variety of merchan-
disc suited to every taste.
With its history of large stocks and
its record of heavy transactions, the
store of S. & c. Watkins has never
had a larger or prettier stock in it than
now. At this period. when money is
close and all operations are upon q
rather conservative basis. it might
have been expected that this house
would have bought Oh 4 smaller scale
than usual but as is a habit with them
these gentleman know quite well what
they are doing. While they have
bought largely as an inspection of the
various departments Of their establish
ment will show, they have also bought
to good advantage, exercising dis
eliminating care and judgment. born
Of experience, a knowledge Of the
wants of their customers and the
ready money at their command.
An interesting and agreeable fact is
that there is a growing demand for
better quality of goods. They are
responding to this demand, as they do
to all others as they arise, and this
suggests that prime secret Of their
success is that they know thoroughly
well the wants Of their trade. They
have studied these wants through long
term of years, and while doing this
have learned exactly where and how
to buy the stock their customers re-
quire. 1t is alike fortunate for them
and their trade that they have this
familiarity with it, for this tends to
establish permanent relations, to their
mutual advantage. But the permanency
Of these relations is not so much the
result Of this fact as of their customers.
1t is their interest to do so. They can
not afford to sell a person one bill by
sharp practice Or Misrepresentation
and then lose his patronage. They
have been here many years and expect
to be here for many years to come and
they want to make the customer OF
this season customer of next season,
and the next and the next. Good
treatment has this effect and thus their
trade stays with them from year to
year and i'll doing so proves its own
good sense and business sagacity, while
new customers will always find them.
as old ones have, the embodiment OF
the high business integrity.