The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1903-01-16
SHOPPING BY MAIL.

One of the greatest enemies of
merchants in such towns as Kalispell
is the mail order house. People pat
ronize these establishments because
they believe they can get bargains,
ana it is difficult to convince them
otherwise. The great center of this
mail order trade is Chicago, and
therefore the following from a Chi
cago paper is particularly timely:
The goods supplied by most mail
order houses are of inferior quality,
usually second or special under grade
goods, manufactured especially for
chat trade. An industry that has
proved very profitable to a few indi-
viduals, but serious loss to the peo-
pie in the small towns who think
they save something by going around
their own local trader. Empty stores
and empty decaying houses and barns
in the smaller places are the result
OF these mistaken people who by the
oil mail order houses are dubbed
cCuntr! jay trade" This is very
much in evidence in the mining
to"HS "Helt very lilllc local piiue
is felt. The trader in small place
can sell just as cheap as the mail or
der houses do. when the express and
freight charges are taken into ac
count. But usually they do not dare
to fill orders to their customers with
| the inferior make of goods that the
mail order fellows do. There is no
condition Of our country SO seriously
detrimental to the welfare of the
country people as the big taking mail
order houses of the large cities, but
the cheap guys Of the small places
thinks if it only comes from away it
| is better than home grown" or fur
nished By the home dealers: so he
cheapens his own surroundings with
! his own money
This is severer arraignment of
the mail order houses than probably
many of the home merchants them
selves would venture upon inasmuch
as people might say they were pre-
JUDGED. Coming. however. from
Chicago paper. and evidently written
by one who knows, it is we'll worthy
| of consideration. While it is true
that the sums yearly sent out of Kali
ispell to mail order houses are large
and eat into the home trade, the very
fact that in Kalispell at least it is
not general custom is significant
If it were our merchants would have
to go out of business. Usually the
sending away for goods is mere
desultOry practice on the part of
a bombardment of circulars. may
see something she wants so cheap"
and off goes an order as trial. In
SO cases out of 100 the goods are un-
satisfactory in some way, AMI prob
ably in few more trials the shopper
by mail returns to the home mer-
chant thoroughly cured. If shopping
by mail We're such a good thing as
advertised, the business has been
long enough going. to demonstrate
its merits conclusively. The bulk
of the country or provincial city peo-
pie would be trading that way But
experience shows that in the long
run this way of doing business is
not satisfactory. Naturally. the Chi.
cago and other mail houses will
thrive. Their territory is the civil
lied world and new crop of suck
ers are grown every year. But the
: home merchant. if he keeps his stock
t up to the standard, and deals hon
estly and honorably with his custom
l ers, will never suffer seriously by
reason of the shopping by mail"
, Most people who have tried it are