The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-10-30
IN WHOLESALE TRADE
How South Meridian Street Is
Standing the Hard Times.
Little Is Doing i'm Most Lines-WOr!d's
Fair Has Hurt Indianapolis-De-
mOralized Wool Market.

One, in going through the wholesale
streets. often hears the question asked,
whats the matter with business? DC
casionally one hears wholesale merchant
say that his business is very satisfactory,
but such cases are rare. Investigation
shows that everybody is making his pur-
chases on the hand-tc-mouth policy. await
ing the coming OF better times Wholesale
grocers report that they are selling about
the usual volume of heavy groceries, such
as sugars and coffees. but when fancy
groceries are reached the sales are away
below the usual amount. and here is usual
ly where the profits to the grocers come in.
There is little margin on barrel of sugar
or a sack of coffee. Then California fruits.
which usually move well, are moving out
very slowly, although selling lower than ut
any time since they were introduced on
the Eastern markets.
Coming to dry-goods houses. the tenor of
the remarks is much the sans. "Our
bills" said one of the largest wholesale
men, count up slow from the fact that
high-priced goods will not sell, and the
country merchant goes for the cheaper
class OF goods, which will sell, they
must be had by the people to keep even
comfortable" The druggists have not done
much, healthy a 'on has it been all
over the territory which buys its supplies
here. Indianapolis now has three large
wholesale stove houses, and a. few weeks
ago the proprietors were blue but in the
last thirty DAYS quite demand has sprung
up in this and adjoining States and the far
Northwest, and they talk more encour-
agingly. Dealers in crockery and glassware
fruit crop was failure over the Western
States, and the demand for glass jars,
which is one of their most important items
OF business, fell off 10 per cent. as COM
Ia red with the fruit season of 1892. Deal
ers in fancy. goods and notions, picture
frames, etc, have had bad year, but are
locking for the holidays to help them out
The boot and shoe men are not COM
planning much. They say that boots and
I'm good times, and possibly more in hard
times, as more tramping is done, and their
goods come under the list of necessities.
1t has been a great year for the poultry
and egg shippers. The people have been
obliged TO have money, and, 1t is said, have
sold their stocks of poultry and eggs more
farmer or men who have few hens has
been out ca the question; they preferred to
have the money the poultry and eggs would
bring Prices have been maintained much
better than usual through the entire sea-
son. The commission men have, In the last
thirty days, felt the money stringency more
than at any former period. With the shut
ting down of so many manufactures In this
city and the gas-belt territory. the demand
for eatableS has fallen of, unless il be for
potatoes. Prices which have prevailed owing
TO the summer drought and scarcity of
produce have put onions, cabbage, apples
and many other articles on the luxury list,
and. until quite recently. potatoes ruled
high in price This fact curtails the daily
consumption, and, as one commission man
puts it. where we were, at this time last
year, shipping ten carloads OF produce we
are now glad to ship one" The millinery
houses, of which Indianapolis has two
which are unexcelled in the West, report
that they have not felt the depression in
business so much as some other branches.
AS one of the proprietors puts il, THE Ia
dies will have bonnets whether able to pay
for them or not, which sometimes makes
our collections rather slower than desira-
BILE" Fall business with them Is setting in,
however, very satisfactorily.