The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-12-31
WHAT THE MERCHANTS SAY.

WHAT The MERCHANTS SAY.
E. w. Lynch of the E. w. Lynch
Furniture Co., said: "In many re-
spects the season was a remarkable
one. When it was but few days old,
the prospects for brisk business did not
seem bright. The week before Christ
mas was an astounding one. There
seemed a willingness on the part of
purchasers to patronize storekeepers
without unnecessary haggling over de-
tails.
THE season as a whole far exceeded
last year in the amount of goods sold.
l have been in business but three years,
and of course cannot give comparisons
of the volume of business in former
years, but am confident that in the
season just closed there has been lit
tie that a merchant could complain of.
The quality of goods purchased was
higher than is usual, although 1 have
heard slight complaints from dealers
because of the search of many custo-
mers for the cheaper lines of goods.
Harry A. Cook of the Denholm & Nc
Kay Co.. said: christmas trade at the
Boston Store was the largest in. the
history of the store. The amount of
sales was many degrees above any
mark set in previous. years. Warm
weather in the week preceding Christ
mas was accountable to a great extent
for the magnificent turnout of buyers.
The county trade is valuable factor
in building up the receipts of a firm,
and never was this fact more apparent
than in the recent holiday season.
Warm weather did not tend to in
crease the sale of staple goods, but
many buyers bought seasonable goods
with an eye to the future. There was
nothing particularly noticeable about
the quality of goods purchased. There
was no remarkable change from for
mer lines of goods in popular demand
Edward P Sumner, vice president of
the Barnard, Sumner & Putnam Co.,
said: 1.-THE volume of business was
much larger than last year. Purchasers
seemed to have more money than in
previous years, and sales were made
more easily. The prosperity which made
storekeepers in Chicago and the other
great western cities happy, year ago,
seems TO have firmly established itself
among the people in this section
Il do not believe that warm weather
favored sales to any great extent Cold
err weather would have brought out
purchasers of the regular winter lines
of stock. AS it was, the trade confined
itself almost entirely to the purchase
of distinctly holiday goods, but the
general results show that the amount
Of money expended was far in excess
of any previous year.
AT the Putnam & Sprague Co., John
A. Lake said: Last year could not
DONNA 20 With tho CI,rie+,,,a.- ,e.o,,o.. -
this year Business this year was 80 Is
per cent better, than last, and to the
general prosperity this remarkable in
crease can be attributed. The better
grades of goods were demanded, and
customers who formerly sought the
cheaper lines were very willing to
make more substantial purchases,
which tends to prove that when the
people have the money to spend, they
are willing to improve trade conditions
by spending it.
The warm weather was a decided
help to us, and it was a blessing to
men at work on the delivery teams
as goods could be delivered more sys-
tematically and at less trouble than
during extreme cold weather.
A. S. Lowell, of A. S. Lowell & Co.,
said: I'VE make no preparation for an
increase during the holidays over our
regular business. During the past
year there has been an increase of %
per cent in the volume of business
done by the firm. OF course, the
change has been brought about by bet
ter times
The manager of the furniture store
of Flint & Barker said that they had
done the best holiday business in the
history of the firm. The clerks were
busy all day long, and not only has the
trade at Christmas time been good, but
for some months past the house has
had better trade than at any time
during the 16 years the present firm
has been in business. In the furniture
trade, nearly all articles sold represent
quite a sum of money. In such a store
there are few articles that can be
bought for few cents as in depart
ment stores, and so every purchase
means a good return to the store.
The Pinkham & Willis company re-
ports good trade in furniture, carpets
and rugs. The company feels much
encouraged over the business outlook.
as evidenced by the trade of the past
few weeks, and the new year is viewed
with the brightest of hopes.
Richard Healy, dealer in suits and
cloaks, told The Spy man that he did
the best business at Christmas time
that he has ever done since he went
into business. Il think that people
have more money to spend this year"
he said, than has been the case in the
past. notice that customers are will
ing to pay for the high grade of
goods and are consulting their tastes
rather than their pocketbooks. / have