The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-08-02
AMERICAN SHOES IN ENGLAND.
sharpfs Competing With the Homo
Article. Says Consul HnIstead.

competing ~ itH thc HolkiC
Article, Says Consul Hnistead.
Marshal HaIstead, United States Consul
at Birmingham. England, in letter to the
State Department dated June %. 1900, dis
casses the market for American shoes in
Great Britain. He says:
The British Boot and Shoe Trades jour
nal,' in a recent number, said editorially:
We felt at one time that the importa-
ion of few American-made boots and
shoes was a good thing. and calculated to
stimulate our manufacturers to greater eff
forts and cause them to make the place
rather warm for all intending invaders;
but the position Is now almost analogous TO
that CT the Australian farmer who, think
ing that a few rabbits would improve the
rural aspect OF the farm, imported some
The few soon beeaEsts many, and the ag-
Ticulturai prosperity Of the colonies is now
seriously threatened by the thriving ro-
dent In like manner is the trade threat
ened by the importation of those few first
samples. aud mainly beeaues of the indif-
ference with which the Importation has
been regarded by our own manufacturers
In another department of the same issue
OF this publication, the 'bagman,' or. as
we should say, the drummer. is credited
with this opinion:
g In looking backward, one feels that
the spring season has bee;l especially note
worthy in respect to one particular. name
ly every commercial traveller representing
a British house mas felt American eompe-
titfon to be real, live fact and far from
being the bogy that it was said to be some
81 ~EfslrI
houses have advanced and spread them
selves around adapting themselves 70 the
wants OF each particular market with
eleverRess which will always make them
formidable competitors. They are thou
sands OF miles away. and home manufae-
turers are on the spot. and yet, IN spite OF
all disadvantages, they have increased
their trade and to some extent established
themselves
THE effort TO sell American shoes in
this country has certainly had very
marked effect on the style OF shoe worn
and though they haze not gone to quite
the extreme the sh pes exhibited in the
shoeshop windows in Great Britain today
are of the pointed type worn in the United
States a few years ago. 1t Is also SIN
guiar development of this international
dealing that the shoes sold in the United
States today are broader sofed and broader
toed than anything worn In England, and
this must be due to the creation Of mar
ket for the broad shoe in the United States
at the time the demand for the same type
fell of in Great BritainF owing. no doubt,
to the early efforts in Great Britain CT the
United States manufacturers to sell the
kind of shoe then worn in the United
States The splendid finish of the Ameri-
can shoe and its flexible leather won a way
for the shoe. carrying with them the point
ed toe under the mistaken impression that
it also had a share in the new foot COM
fort
The many American shoe statesmen with
whom / have acquaintance report very
great progress in this market. and find
that they are now sought. where formerly
they had to plead for an opening chance.
One salesman, who was in Birmingham
lately told me that his books for the year
the sale of S300 600 worth OF shoes
in Great Britain alone, and stated that his
books would not show all the sales he had
made here. because there were so many
of his customers who could not be per-
suaded that they could not buy better by
buying from the home house direct.
These figures, ii should be noted, repre-
sent the sales of one concern, and there
are, I understand, at least twenty ether
shoe houses represented in England.
"One New England shoe manufactures
has established a retail store in London
where ne sells his goods. has shining par
lor. ETC. and this establishment has al
ready proved SO profitable he is opening
another one in a different section of the
city, and coatemplates an extension
throughout the provinces
Large manufacturers have found it TO
their advantage in the United States to
establish their own retail stores through
out the cities CT the country, and this IS
much more important here, as the aver
age English shopkeeDeT gives such long
credits and has so much OF his money rep
resented on his books that he cannot keep
an extensive stock.
The result is that while in the average
shoe store in the United States one has
the chance of selecting from q stock with
i've widths and half Sizes in lengths-seven
widths in some stabiishments-iR the
average shoe shop here only three widths
are kept and 20 half sizes in lengths; and
inability to fit individuals out OF a three
width stock assists the shopkeepeF in his
erdeavcr 10 persuade the customer to have
shoes made to order DESPITE all the
chances Of insists which that means Low
priced cash dealings, one price TO all, con-
firmed by plainly marked figures. are feat
ures OF business Just as acceptable TO the
buyers here as at home. The general
public would prefer to be purchasers IN
competition instead OF patient, long-suffer-
ing customers. i they were given the OPP
pcTtunity.'