Omaha daily bee., 1895-09-22
BUSINESS MEN ARE PLEASED
All Pro6ted by the Presence Of State Fair
Visitors.
PAID FOR EFFORT TO SECURE THE SHOW
worth of the Exhibition to Omnhn
from, u Peculiarly Point OF view
Discussed by Jobbcrs and
Retailers.

ticking and to compare the two sides OF the
ledger. To say that the result Of their cal
c%ulations is satisfactory would be putting it
mildly. The business men, vino had reason to
expect that the tremendous influx Of strangers
into the city would benefit their business,
have realized far beyond their most sanguine
expectations. They have done a bigger bus
lness during the last six days than they had
Jared to anticipate and they are correspond
lngly enthusiastic over the fair and disposed
10 use every effort to make 1t even a bigger
success next year.
Outside of the hotel. restaurant and saloon
men, the jobbers have undoubtedly pronted
most by the mobilization Of such a crowd
in the city. They have been foremost among
the men VIII made the fair possible and their
energy and devotion to Omaha interests was
a material factor in paving the way for such
an enterprise. As a matter of course they
expected that what would benefit Omaha
would benefit them, and they relied. on the
fair to bring in a lot of new customers and
enable them to enlarge the territory that is
tributary to Omaha wholesale interests.
In this they have been more than
successful. The wholesale houses have done
a business during the past six days that re-
minds the jobbers OF the boom Of 1892. In
fact 1t is extremely doubtful whether there
has ever been as heavy a volume OF trade at
tnls tlmt v Il ut year as luty Hdu On lntlT
hands during last week. They are all jubi-
liant, and not one Of them is to be found but
who declares that the fair. was the biggest
thing that ever occurred for the wholesale
interests OF the city.
WHAT THE JOBBERS SAY.
A reporter called on most Of the leading
jobbers yesterday and was told the same
story in every instance. 1t was the unani-
nous sentiment that Omaha had taken a big
stride forward and that the direct benefits
which have already accrued were more than
sufficient to compensate for the labor and
expense which had been lavished to secure
and maintain the fair. Among the firms
which were seen were the following:
observation-disclosures Hardware company
We have had a tremendous rush all the week.
The customers lined up early every morning
last week and we had more than we could
handle until the store closed at night. We
regard the fair as the biggest thing for the
jobbing interests that Omaha has ever had
and are more than repaid for what we put
into it.. Nearly every retailer who came in
bought something and we secured many new
customers who had previously bought their
goods at some other market. We sold a
stock Of hardware to an Iowa man yesterday
who had never bought a dollars worth of
goods in Omaha before. He now says he
will give us his business and he is only one
OF many.
week has been beyond all expectations. We
have had a big business and are more than
satisfied. We consider the actual trade of the
week as only a small part OF the benefit
we will receive. We have had a great many
merchants in whom we have been selling
som goods through our travelling men,
while they had also bought goods OF men
from other cities. Now that they have been
in here and found that Omaha can supply
all their requirements just as well as any
other market, they are determined to give us
their entire patronage. We expect to hold
fully ~ per cent Of the customers we have
had in during the week.
u. r. Lindsey, rubber goods think there
can be no question but that the Omaha job
bers have realized great things from the fair.
1t has brought In hundreds OF new customers
and brought us closer to the old ones. The
merchants who came in during the week all
bought goods and are we'll satisfied with their
treatment. On account OF the expected in
crease in the price of rubber goods October
1, most of our orders were placed before the
fair. But the customers who came in gen
orally added to their previous orders, so that
we had all we could take care of all the week.
Thomas Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick, Koch Dry
Goods Comparative have done better than
we had dared to expect and have had a big
trade all the week. Every one must admit
that bringing the state fair to Omaha has
proved to be a good investment and as far as
We are concerned we are well satisfied.
WAS A GOD INVESTMENT.
w. A.. l.. Gibbon, hats and caps-As a
cold business proposition the state fair has
been the best paying investment that Omaha
ever made. 1t has surpassed all expectations.
We had thought that 1t would be a big thing
II so, 900 strangers could be brought to the
city, but now a conservative estimate would
place the number at 100, 900. II these men
left $40 apiece in town, and it must have
averaged that, there is a cool 81, 900, 900
that was left in the city. Then the jobbers
have all done a tremendous business and ma
terially added to their customers. Our ex-
perience was that the visitors bought eau
tiously, but they all left orders, and the result
was a big business.
F.. p. Kirkendall of Kirkendall, Jones &
Cove are well pleased. Business has been
great all week, and we can easily see where
we have been more than repaid for our eX-
ertions in securing the fair. The benefits
that We have obtained Will not stop now,
but will continue as long as we hold the new
customers we have gained. Then there are
hundreds OF retailers who could not be
brought to Omaha in any other way. They
have come to see the fair, and incidentally
to inspect the ~jobbing district. They have
been pleased and have left bigger orders than
ever before. The result cannot help but be
a material addition to the general wholesale
business of the city.
c. Il. Pickens of Paxton 4 Gallagher-We
would have considered the fair a paying in
vestment even II we had not sold a dollars
worth OF goods. But we were agreeably
surprised. We sold double the amount OF
goods that we anticipated and we got better
acquainted with our customers and helped
them to get acquainted with each other
We had merchants in from Iowa, South Da-
kota and Kansas, as well as from Nebraska
and they were all delighted. | think 1t is
safe to say that there were at least 1000 re-
tailers in our store during the fair week,
Fully half Of them bought goods and they
have acquired a good feeling towards Omaha
that will bring us a great deal Of business in
the future.
WITH THE RETAILERS.
The fair occurred a little too early in the
season to allow the retail trade to get the
full benefit Of the presence of the visitors
Then the weather was against the sale OF
winter goods and it was scarcely expected
that the retail trade would profit to the
same extent as the wholesale interests. Blu
Notwithstanding the contrary disposition Of
the thermometer most OF the retail lines en-.
joyed a big business during fair week. Her,
is what some of the retailers say Of theil
experience:
Joseph Hayden OF Hayden Bros.-Oul
trade was fully double what We had expected
We had a big force of extra clerks and ever
then We had almost more than we could d.
to keep up will the rush. This was practi
cally all out of town trade, most of tn,
local people preferring to wait until tn,
crowd had gone before making their pur
chases. But this will all have to come any