New-York tribune., 1901-01-13
THE DECLINE or INGRAM.
WHY THIS KIND OF CARPET HAS BECOME
old FASHIONED"

OI-D f-ASIilO-Ni-D
why do We see so little ingram carpet? Have
the manufacturers gone out Of business and is
there no demand for that class Of goOds?'
These questions were asked recently by a Gus
toner in the carpet department of one Of the
large stores.
Your questions show" said the salesman.
"that you are New-Yorker If you lived in the
country or out West or down South you would
never have noticed that the demand for ingram
carpet had declined for there the old fashioned
yard wide goods are still in use and only
trihe less popular than they were before the
day of the higher grade three-quarter goods"
Some ingram carpet is made in New-Ergland,
but about 90 per cent Of the product comes from
Philadelphia and the condition Of affairs in that
place was described by W. p. symonds as "the
worst that has ever been experienced by any
man in the business. The last six years have
been anything but satisfactory and this prom
ises to be fitting climax 10 modern Josephs
seven lean years. as applied 20 the ingram car
pet industry
The tapestry. Brussels velvet Wilton and
Administer goods have been reduced in price. the
patterns are more slightly" and these facts.
together with the demand for more artistic floor
coverings. have caused the ingram sales to
shrink. The manufacturers have seen this con-
dition grow and many Of them would have con-
verted their factories into Brussels or tapestry
mills if this could have been done at a reasonable
outlay. But reconstruction means rebuilding.
and the great expense has prevented the change.
Another element that has had decided ef-
feet the sale OF ingram carpets" said the
salesman. ''is the falling off in quality. Nearly
ali the manufacturers make stock order, that
is, they make the goods only after they have
been sold The competition has been so great
that much cutting of prices is often done before
sale he ..ffe fed md hon he Orfle is
finally hooked the goods are mode in keeping
With the price The merchs Mt gets his carpet
AT a low fgure. but it is worth only what he
pays for ii. Of course, this is bad policy. but
the men at the heads Of many of these carpet
concerns are uct business men So much as they
Az carpet makers. They came from England,
North OF ireland and Scotland. and began in
this country with loom or two. They
frugal, Industrious and conservative. and many
OF them built up large concerns. into which they
introduced their old styIe methods but they
made and sold great quantities of carpets and
made money well But they could not keep
rp with the procession, and the other styles,
straw mattings and rugs have played havoc
with the ingram carpet business"
\ trade journal in an article on the subject
OF the decline in the ingram carpet business
says:
The present demoralized condition has been
who have been guilty of skinning their goods
are in a fix. They cannot offer any lower price
than the standard makers doing and they
cannot further cut The quality of their fabrics
without making them too rank 20 be marketable.
These men came dangerously near making the
name OF Philadelphia ingram a term Of n
prOaCh.
The depression in the ingram carpet business
has had no effect on the other branches OF the
business. which are generally good. The new
possessions make few demands On the carpet
manufacturers. Straw mating usually takes
the place of carpets after these have been IN
a short time.
THE bugs and other insects said a dealer.
would probably prefer TIE carpet but for the
people who hive in the tropics there is Itte COM
fort in carpets"