The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-11-23
Great Commercial Projects in New
York.


Somebody has bought the entire BLOCK
front on Sixth avenue, New York pc
tween Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets
ana 500 feet frontage on each street for
the purpose of erecting on the site the
biggest department store in the eoun-
try. The cost of the ground, which en-
braced 50 different holdings, is given as
Sc. 0 10000. and the cost of the building to
be erected is to be about the same sum-
making a total investment of S5,00O,oW in
real estate, as a preliminary to the COM
mercial enterprise. 1t can hardly be pos
sible that such a building could be
stocked for trade at a smaller outlay IN
cash OF on time than 50 .0aG,0 goo, and so it
would appear that some slo,oee,ooo will be
involved by the time the doors are thrown
open to the public. The establishment VIII
on this basis, be probably equal to if not
greater than any other retail estao-
Iishment in the world. In New York GER
tainly not more than one house could
connects with it, and outside New York
there is not one in the country which
could come anywhere near it.
There is considerable speculation abroad
as TO who the projectors and hackers OF
the enterprise are. The first story was
tbat Chicaso was behind it. Later this
story was modided by the statement
that pew York capital had purchased the
land and would put up the building while
a noted Chicago firm would provide the
capital for the business and conduct it.
Even this version seems 10 be doubted.
The world Of this morning quotes "a
well-known dry goods merchant" as say
ing that no concern outside of New York
was financially strong enough for such
an enterprise-a sad reflection upon Chi
eago.
But this great undertaking is not the
only Zone of the sort that is contem-
plated. 1t is generally understood that
John WanamaiGer. also. is looking for
a block upon which to erect a building
for a metropolitan replica of his Phila-
delphia notion store. He was approach
ed upon the subject yesterday, and ac-
cordifg to the dispatches in the morning
papers he refused to either affirm or
deny the rumors. From this, it is fair
70 infer that there is something in
them.
These colossal enterprises of trade ap-
peal to the imagination with no small
power. They involve a degree of con-
structive conception, of insight into the
complex life of the day. of moral cour-
age. which place them in a very high
plane of human effort. The lavish wealth,
the wonderful assemblage of commod-
tiles, the throng of busy people make a
picture in the minds eye beside which
the bazaars of eastern fairy lore grow
pale and tame. The enterprises also have
q strong interest for the Spectator in
economic science, opening up, as they do,
new questions as to the future of the
retail commerce of our great cities. What
the trusts nave uOHS VI Veliutu " ~
in manufacturing these great warehouses
tend to parallel in trade. There Is now
hardly any article in which the great
stores of New York do not deal. From
dry goods to furniture and from furni-
ture to k~itchenware, they have kept on
advancing until now they compete alike
80. L. =of,,a 5oalar and tho CORNER
grocery. the bookseller and the restau-
rant.
People are beginning to ask how far
this is to go and what is to be tbs effect.
How far will the competition of amassed
capital, willing to accept such low re-
turns as 2 or 8 per cent, go towards
driving the small traders Of gil sorts out
oil the field. And if the little men are
overwhelmed by the great a~ggregations
of capital, how is real estate, in its turn,
IN be affected by their collapse. There
can be no doubt but, year after year. it
becomes harder for people of limited
resources to remain in business upon
ordinary lines. The future of the small
trade may be found in the development
of specialties, ssanches of trade in which
the personal element IS Of p4-eminent
Importance Certainly if there is not a
refuge in this direction, It is hard to see
any; for with rapid and cheap transit,
locality will be no advantage, and all
experience shows that the bigger the
investment the ~eaper the relative cost
Of conducting business from which it
follows that the biggest investor can al
ways underseu his competitors.