Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-12-08
VOICES OF the PRESS.
What a Boston Paper Thinks Of Merchants
Week.
New England Grocer.)

Merchants Week!
That is what they call 1t In Boston.
Insanity Week."
That is what they call It In Springfield.
Hartford. Providence, Manchester and
Portland.
The first designation is a misnomer ex-
cept as 1t applies to the big department
stores. which are not content with part
of the trade. but want all of It,.
The second designation is no doubt the
result of jealousy. but nevertheless has q
good deal of truth in it,. A merchants
week in which the wholesale trade might
bring to Boston the merchants OF New
England and supply them with goods to
be retailed to the customers IN their re-
spective towns and cities has some ex-
cuse. but to turn about ana invite the
customers of these very dealers who had
stocked up with goods, TO come to Bos-
ton and purchase these same goods at
bargain sales is an outrage upon every
country merchant in New England.
The merchant in the home town ana
city invests his capital in business pays
taxes, employs help. and helps the insti-
tutions of that municipality He deserves
the support and patronage or the resi-
dents in that town or city. We are sur
prised that the railroads should be led
into any such trap, for 1t cannot but help
injure the general prosperity OF New
England. We are Jealous of Boston's
rights, win do everything we can to in
crease her prosperity and multiply her
business interests; but we do not believe
ii ought to be done at the expense of the
merchants in other towns and cities. In
fact it is suicidal for these are the feed
ing schools upon which Boston depends
very largely for her success in business.
Merchants week. as we have said. Is a
misnomer: customers week would be
more appropriate. and yet We doubt If
even the customers gain from such
carnival of so-called bargains. The JOS
tie and the hustle are not conducive to
good buying. and the so-Called bargains
are no better than are offered every Mon
day to the suburban shoppers. The wise
customer is the one who spends his mon
ey at home, where he can shop at his
leisure and obtain good returns for his
money
We are not surprised that the country
merchants throughout New England are
indignant. although ii does not stand for
Lynn. Lowell and other cities that have
had merchants weeks to criticise Bos-
ton. These big trade spreads are never OF
permanent benefit to any community. We
are told that the only ones that reaped
harvest in the Lynn carnival We're the
druggists. cigar dealers. restaurants and
liquor saloons. People went there from
curiosity and not To buy goods. While
this may not be true in Boston. to so
large an extent. we doubt Ii the bargains
offered are commensurate with the ef-
forts spent to secure large sales. We
very much doubt, also. If the throng has
been as large as was expected. The Illus
tratons in the daily papers of immense
crowds at the railroad stations. are the
results of the vivid imagination of news
paper artists. The streets have not been
uncomfortably crowded during the >eek.
and the sum total of sales in our opin-
ion. will not show a very large percen-
tage of profit over and above the extra
securing low railroad rates.
A few big retail dealers may reap
harvest. but the great generality of trade
secures no benefit from merchants week.
The truest and best trade methods are
those that encourage loyal and steady
support of home interests. To our mind
merchants week is but another evidence
of a concerted effort on the part of a few
big department stores to monopolize the
trade not alone of Boston but of all New
England.
Some dealers object to the giving of
trading stamps as an inducement tn
trade. How. pray tell us. does that differ
from giving rebate railroad checks. to
customers? Is not one as much a prcmi-
um as the other and doesn't 1t require as
large percentage of profits? The
trouble is merchants are not consistent.
and while one man holds mp his hands in
holy horror at some method of trade
adopted by competitor he. himself. will
be participant in some other method of
precisely the same character. although
differing in kind.
This so called merchants week demor-
Allies trade. disturbS the general trend of
business affairs and instead of being an
evidence of prosperity. as some papers
claim. is really an evidence Of unsettled
and undesirable business conditions.
The bargains we read much about
have not even the merit of those named
by Whmpton's little boy who. upon hear
ing that twins had been presented to the
happy household. declared that his moth
er had been getting bargains again.