The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-05-01

BY consolidating immense interests
beneath one roof the proprietors OF the
department stores are able to conduct
business and reap fortunes on mar
row margin of profit. They get goods,
rent, help and advertising at the low
est figures possible to imagine, which
results in their being able to sell at
prices which would wreck the smaller
dealers.
1T is a we'll known fact that many
lines of goods are from time to time
sold at an actual loss in order to get
a crowd together in the department
store, the shrewd managers knowing
full well that what is lost on one line
will be made up on another. That is
not just to the retailer who carries the
particular line that is cut in price, and
has tendency to force him TO the wall
for obvious reasons, as you know some
lines of goods are offered so cheaply
in this way that it would pay other
merchants to buy them to resell, but
this is guarded against by restricting
the quantity in each individual sale to a
nominal figure Thus, when Al sugar
! is offered at 31a cents a pound, while
the regular price is ~ cents, only five
When these things are pointed out to
the woman by the missionaries of the
anti-department store crusade, her US
ual reply is:
7 know I am saving money by buy
! ing down town. 1 will not pay the big
prices they ask in the stores around
here, and besides the small stocks they
carry give me no assortment to select
! from
I cite this as one feature of the
dealings of the department stores and
their effect upon certain of those who
are always looking for the best of a
bargain.
1T is true that the department store
| possesses some virtue as relates to its
influence upon the community in which
it thrives. 1t brings to the city in
| which it is located a great deal OF
trade. That is the extent Of its virtue
Whatever moneys are expended are
held between the walls of the great de-
partment store.
II neglected to say when referring
to conditions in Chicago that the ques'
ton of the maintenance of department
stores had been made an issue in the
late municipal campaign, which re
suited in the election by tremendou:
majority of Carter II. Harrison, Jr.
as Mayor of that city. He was elected
on a platform in which was inserted {
plank avowing hostility to the depart
ment stores.
IF the department stores disposed
of all lines of goods at a profit, NJ
matter how small, the evil attending
their existence would be lessened. Blu
this is not the case. 1t seems to b.
the policy of these concerns TO breal
down the specialist in a certain line
and after bankrupting him purchas
his stock at bankrupt prices, and thel
in spirit of magnanimity offer him
position at the head of a department
The system of running the specialist i
simple. A certain line Of goods ar
offered for sale at ridiculously low fig
ures by the great department store
and the frugal housewife hastens t
avail herself of what appears to her t
be golden opportunity. This is blu
catch-penny devise to lure custom TO
the other departments carried by tn
great concern. Ultimately the special
ist succumbs to the ruinOus competi
ton. is forced into bankruptcy an
gladly accepts a position at the hand
of those who have wrought his ruin
What becomes of the half dozen o
more people employed by the specials
at the time he was forced into bank
! ruptcy? Do they accompany their oil
employer to his new location? Not b
any means They are thrown out o
EMPLOYMENT and must do the best the
( can. Perchance they are forced /
leave the city. What becomes of tn
homes they occupied. Perhaps the IT
Let" sign graces the windows instea
of the curtains of the prosperous cler
Of the prosperous retailer. And wi
the store vacated by the retailer an
the house vacated by his employe be lie
as soon as they are vacated? If theS
? properties are let in due time, will
| not be necessary to reduce the pric
of their rental to secure tenants? Pei
= haps If the price of rental is reduced
/ will there not be a corresponding re
I duction or depreciation in the valu
Of these properties? Perhaps. WI
5 not this depreciation in income value
result in a corresponding depreciatio
= in the assessable value Of these proI
r critics and ultimately result in cul
Z tailnent of revenues from property tax
alton all along the line? Perhaps
e "These questions l have asked, but
e answering them l have been non-com
2 initial. l leave it to you to judge {
t their Importance.
= There is much more TO be considere
s in this connection, but feeling tha
Y there is a time limit upon my remark
= I shall defer further reference.
at,a,. Y
n ment stores in Eastern cities have &C
= vertised a special sale of certain gooc
between certain hours. One child Woui
t be employed to do the wrapping
G these articles sold in a mammoth az
r partment store. She would be IL
: structed to work slowly in order thu
g the goods sold at an actual saerlh(
+ could not be readily disposed of VIII
the sale was on of course other d'
partments would be visited and poss
= biv purchases made. ] refer to this {
h another instance of unfair dealing c
n the part of the department stores.
= There is another feature that mu
= not escape your attention, and that
G the immoral influence that is apt
: make itself manifest in the course
r. time among the women employees
8 these great concerns.
n 1T IS tire that the heads of depar
n ments are paid good salaries, but thei
are many women and girls who are NJ
70 so fortunate. Many of them recelN
IS but a pittapce for their long hours
20 toll They must dress we'll and maii
e tain an air of prosperity else they al
" told that their services are no long,
# required. On a salary of from - TO
+ per week young woman will findit oil