Morris tribune., 1900-10-06
"A GREAT SUPPLY HOUSE.

|, One Of the great business ENTERPRISE
OF minneapolis is the i. M. Robert
supply House. Like all large and sue
cessrul enterprises, 1t has been a groWCl
from small beginning. There seem
to be popular belief mat 1t require
but little time, less capital, and no e4
perience to start ana manage a grea
mail order business. In the last SIX o.
seven yea1s there have been started sew
eral supply houses in Minneapolis, bui
they attempted to start at the top, ano
soon found it impossible to compete
with house that started at the bot
tom and grew up in experience as its
business increased.
About l5 years ago Mr.. T. NJ. Rob
erts had retail hardware store in MIN.
neapolis. 1t was a very good store Of
its kind, too, but it only occupied q
single room and basement with about a
25-foot front and something like 100
foot depth. Mr.. Roberts saw that in
some lines of hardware-notably stoves
and ranges-countty and village people
were obliged by their local dealers to
pay too high price for their goods, SO
he began to advertise stoves and ranges
through the country at city prices
Naturally he began to sell them. He
extended his advertising to other lines
Of hardware and began making un-
heard of prices. It was some time be-
fore he began to add other goods than
hardware to his stock, and when he did
80 it was done very conservatively. He
wanted to be perfectly sure Of his
ground before advancing.
One cardinal principle Of this house
from the very beginning was to share
every bargain it obtained with its Gus
toners. If it had, for instance, large
quantity of steel nails on hand and the
price advanced, it did not follow the
market. It's selling price had been
fixed to return fair profit on the pur-
chase price Of the nails, and there the
price staid until the stock was ex-
hausted.
This season when interested parties
to get up binding twine
scare and hold prices up around II
cents, the T. M. Roberts Supply House
told it's customers to wait before placing
their orders. And those who did so
profted. 1t would have been an easy
matter for this house to have joined
The hue and cry Of binding twine fam
ne, bought low and sold high, for,it
was the first house to break the price
rom 1917 to II cents to 8 7-8 cents, and
inally forced it down to 81 cents. 4
This is merely mentioned to show one
If the many services this house has
endered the farmers of the Northwest.
There is no question but that one OF
he greatest factors in reducing prices
# all general supplies to the country
,uyers have been the mail order houses,
nd foremost in It's effect on the North
vest is the T. M. Roberts Supply
Iouse.
This house has had far from smooth |
ailing. Retailers associations have
epeatedly attempted to cripple it by |
oycotting manufacturers that are
nown to sell it goods, but fortunately
Or the purchasing public, money talks
,uder than resolution, and by pur-
hasing in enormous quantities, paying
ash on delivery, there has never been
time when all goods needed were not
! hand When firm wants 10 or 10
arloads of stoves, couple of million
ounds of sugar, one OF two hundred
lousand pounds of coffee, and every
ling else in alike proportion, and goes
ito the market with cash IN hand, it
going to get what it wants and at a
ice that even the largest JObber can
ot compete with.
The Tribune is sometimes accused
inconsistency in opposing trusts and
1t advocating the purchase OF goods
ON suDnly houses. There is no in