The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-18
EQUALS A FAIRY TALE.
HOW BUSINESS Is CONDUCTED IN A
LARGE SUPPLY HOUSE.
The stores of Il. NJ. Roberts Supply
House Have Been Rejuvenated
After the Recent Fire.

There is, according to an ancient and
learned saVant, nothing new under the
sun; but right here in Minneapolis
there is an establishment which almost
compels disbelief in the cid saying
The T. M. Roberts supply house does a
general business in about everything,
from needles and pins to steam en-
gines and threshing machines. and, II
there were anything new, which there
isn't, as one Sammy Weller was wont
to say, this would be the place to find
it. The institution is the second largest
of it's kind in the world, and has PROB
ably done more to divert country trade
to this city than half dozen other
stores put together. The business is
carried on almost entirely by mail, and
goods are sold only for cash.
Each year the house issues a grea-
catalogue, copies of which are scat
tered broadcast throughout the coun-
try districts, and it is from this that
the purchaser makes his selections,
This years catalogue consists Of 10
less than 682 pages, fully illustrated
and contains prices of everything likely
to be in demand. Goods are sold direct
to the consumer, thus avoiding the
profit of the middleman.
The business today occupies two
great stores on Nicollet avenue, and
even this space has been found insult
warehouses to avoid overcrowding. a
G o b e reporter called at the upper
store yesterday, and was shown over
the establishment by Mr.. Roberts him
self. From the basement to the upper
floor they went, passing through de-
partmentS almost without number.
Groceries, hardware, saddlery, books,
musical instruments, sewing machines,
dry goods, jewelry, etc This one store
consists of seven floors and occupies
the space of three street numbers, run
ming from III to 721 Nicollet avenue
1t was founded in 1885, and rs a strik~
ing example of what can be accom-
pllshed by efficient mana gement.
The house has not a single travelling
man on the road, but relies for it's sue
cess entirely unon newspaper advertis-
ir 6, and the results would STEM TO prove
beyond shadow of a doubt the wis
dom Of the experiment. Their mail
is by far the largest of any one house
in the city, and so numerous are the
orders that carloads of goods are sent
out each day. There is an army of
something like ECO employees, and every
thing has been reduced to a system
which runs without a hitch. There are
men who do nothing all day but pack
orders for shipment; others who bill
the goods shipped, and so on through
the whole establishment. There are
three great elevators IN the pulldlnS
to facilitate the transferring of the
goods from floor to floor, and numer-
Gus drays to carry the boxes to the
different depots. When an order is
filed which Is to go to some one who
resides on the 500, the box is placed
in a compartment labeled 1.-The $780,"
and remains there until the arrival
Of the dray which handles the freight
for that line. And so it is with the
others. There is no confusion, and so
perfect is the system that mistakes
are all but impossible.
1t has been said of supply houses that
they are nothing more nor less than
department stores grown up, and in a