The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-05-15
~ENGLISHMAN'S DISCOVERY
FIRST THING HE NOTICES IN AMER
ICA is DRY GOODS STORES.
Is Impressed by the Amount of Their
Advertising and studies Phtios-
ophy OF 1t.

Eng1Shman makes In America Is, 4 Ihlnh'
the dry goods store.
There are. OF course, more important dis
~coveries TO be made later as perceptions so
deeper, and there are more amazing things
which reveal themselves as the initial be-
wilderment wears down and perceptions
grow clearer. But TO the newly-landed
rubber neck" absorbing first superficial
impressions of the bigness of things. it is
the immense size of the shops that brings
the earliest sensation of wonder.
Perhaps, when one comes to think Of il, il
is partly because the newly-landed Eng
lishman is prepared to be impressed by the
immensely of the department store that he
Immediately realizes il. The first discov-
cries he makes are not unnaturally those
he was prepared to look for beforehand.
Before he left home he knew that John
Wanamaker's dry goods store was some
thing that would impress him as remark
able in its way, and, amid a swarm of
vague, confused views of strange sights,
the familiar name catches and focuses mis-
attention. He looks at the great store-so
vast that 1t might be a railway terminus,
so beautiful in the splendor and the digni-
fed simplicity of its designs that il might
be a national art museum-and realizes the
hugeness and the business wonder of it.
Will LhG OIAACl l0a N0RdLl-
ment stores, such as the Siegel-Cooper es-
tablishment-"the Big Store, a City in
1tself'-they force themselves upon the OBJ
servation as readily as the Liberty statue
and Brooklyn bridge, and the river view
of the sky-scraper sky line and Broadway
and the New York Herald office and the
road and all the other big things he was
looking for. So in the other great Amer
lean cities. In Chicago the Marshall Field
store is the first thing TO catch the new
Corners attention.
A TESTIMONY TO SUCCESS.
That is the most striking testimony TO
the success, as we'll as the magnitude. OF
the American department stores. that their
names are known, and they are accounted
for notable sights all over the English
speaking world. John Wanamaker's store
in New York is not by any means an old
institution. AS a matter of fact, it is little
more than six years old: but already its
fame has spread all over england. Period
ically, the British imagination is stirred
by the rumor that Marshall Field or Wan
amaker or the Siegel-CooDer- firm is about
TO open a great department store on Amer
lean lines in London. Certainly the Amer
lean methods of handling the drapery busi-
ness have compelled wondering recognition
in England; one wonders why they have
not more largely compelled the tribute of
imitation. The rewards seem worth trying
for. Mr.. Wanamaker is enormously
wealthy, Mr.. Marshall Field is one of the
richest men in the world.
London is a much larger purchasing CEN
ter and an immeasurably larger distrib-
uting center than New York or Chicago.
Oxford street of an afternoon attracts an
infinitely larger shopping crowd than
Twenty-third street. New York, or State
street. Chicago. As a matter of fact, not
withstanding the facilities of transport in
American cities, the shopping district of
London, owing to the compactness of the
population, is readily accessible TO an enor-
mously larger population. AS far as my
own judgment and observation go-though
here some may disagree-the average Eng
lish woman dresses better than the average
American woman. Why is it, then, that
there is not a bigger drapery and millinery
establishment or oxford street or Regent
street than on State street or Broadway?
Why is there no Marshall Field or Wanna
maker in the London dry goods business?
A BIG VIEW OF BUSINESS.
There are. of course, differences in the
shopping conditions of the two countries.
In every American city, however large, the
shopping district is concentrated into one
small central area. whereas every district
of London has its own shopping center. But
is that so much owing TO any difference in
the nature of the people as the difference
in the business methods of the merchants?
Besides, il is not wholly true of London,
which has its shopping district just as well
defined though very much larger than any
American city.
The American store is big because the
American trader takes a big view of bust
ness. He is not content with a business
that is doing very fairly" If his business
prospers, that is an indication to him that
1t ought to be bigger. If his goods are ap-
preciated, that is only a further inducement
to advertise them more widely. He is not
hampered by tradition nor limited by the
habit of outworn method that passes fire.
quently with us for experience" Knowl-
edge he may have been accommodating from
the beginning. but experience" does not
always hold good over Sunday. He is con-
tinually probing possibilities. and business
to him every day is a fresh proposition. He
is a full-blooded optimist and builds his
store to accommodate all the customers he
can imagine, and his imagination enlarges
in the ratio of the square of his success.
He never feels that his business need cease
to grow. If a bargain sale brings custom,
then he has a bargain sale every day. II
advertising brings custom, then fill news
paper pages with announcements.
ADVERTISEMENTS FULL OF FACTS.
If they were content to store stock ware
houses with merchandise and wait for Gus
toners to come along some time they would
not need to ADVERTISE; but they do not be-
lieve in stock warehouses, and they are not
satisfied with any purchase. however ju-
dicious, until the goods are sold to make
room for something still more attractive.
They have accommodation in their stores
- 1890 1A4 - - 49,
ing brings the customers. So they adver-
tise, and they have brought advertising TO a
science. The art of advertising is, at the
base, the art of knowing what the public
wants. They laugh at the English diapers
crude notion of what is an attracting ad-
vertisement. Their advertisements are full
OF facts, every one of which is a compelling
inducement TO buy, and they change their
advertisements with every issue of the
newspapers. The outlay on advertising is
enormous, but it fills the big stores with
customers.
There are half a dozen of the big stores
in New York which occupy a full page daily
in each of the leading newspapers, and
each spend about 100000 a year for adver-
Using purposes. These are Wanamaker's,
simpson az Crawford, Siegel q Cooper, r.
II. Macy & CO., Adams & Co. and O'NeilIs
In Chicago THE Fair" Mandel Bros, and
Siegel * Cooper Issue page advertisement
daily and spend from $4,000 TO $3.50 a
year. Marshall Field and A. NJ. Roth
schilds & Co. spend $4,000 annually. There
are three or four other stores-some OF
them exclusively in the parcel post bust
ness, which exceed 600 o a year in adver-
Using expenditure. There is no big retail
business in America which does not owe
its big trade TO big advertising. They can
not wait for customers TO come at their
leisure. The goods must be sold at once,
and are sold at once.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ADVERTISING.
The Wanamaker store has an annual
turnover of el0.0 200 TO show for its
e1O0,00O advertising outlay. which. in the
opinion of Mr.. W. r.. Hotchkiss, the adver.
Using expert, ~justifes his work. The key
note of his philosophy is: at is no use
advertising unless you have the goods: but
II fG No M h1 xfDU tho UnnIu fr,lao- 100