The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-05-08
.RICHMOND'S TRADE
I'M GROCERY LINE.
Some Twcnty-odd Jobbcrs Wha.
Handle a Million Tons Of
Good Things.
SOME SURPRISING FIGURES.
Facts That Will startle the
Croakers-Live Merchants Who
Keep Up With the Times. q,
What is Richmond dolngf

What Is Richmond dongf S$
There are croakers. pessimists ana
-rowlers who say she Is not doing much.
,rhey simply do not know what they ara
talking about They are ignorant q the
situation. do not take the trouble 70 lll-
form themselves and arc slow to accepf
the facts When the same are present ted 70 W
them in most attractive shape. III
II Is hardly to he aSpected that these
croalsers and GROWERS: these pess1mists
who think al of NirEinia's and ficn, Ii',l- !,
mond's glory and energy " ere go 1t nsa
5bv past generation. Will readily believe l al
that the twenty-odd live and up to- q ta '
wholesale grocery establishments o.
Richmond are buying. paying for atld
selling at a profit round '1 million q IONS
OF groceries per year, but they are. .is
Think of it--a million tons Of groceries
handled last year BY the wholesale gro-3
cery houses Of Richmond! Now get down
vo,I,. old Pixies arithmetic. and II It's Hul-
tinIication table is equal to the task. run
those tons ont to pounds, allowing t"eti, t"'Ai,
tv-two hundred pounds to the ton, ano
you will get a result that Is well caIcu-
lated TO startlo and jar the average
croaker-
The Old Way.
was talking will, one of these croaE-
ers the other day and he wanted 70
, know where obtained the fsures tt,Hl M
have been published in this column ZOE
the last several Sundays concer ..s.
Immense meat and provision business
done here the wonderful dry goods pusi-
ness and tho surprisingly immense ycl-
un,e of business done in boots and shoes.
| He was assured that the figures We're oI-s
! fetal and accurate, and after being IN q
measure convinced, but still anxious to
croak, no said: "But Richmond isn't do.
| ing the grocery business 1t did In the oio-
| on time. | can remember how the Old
fine houses used to ship carload after
carload OF salt hundreds and thousands
Of barrels and hogsheads Of nolasses ana
sugar. thousands Of hogsheads OF pacon.
! thousands of kegs of nails and all thhs
sort of things I don't see them noW''s
| Certainly he does not.
The New Way.
r,n,es have changed. customs have
| changed, methods have changed and the
way OF doing business has changed, and
! this crouker does not know 1t. Rlch-
| mond is doing a greater wholesale gro-
Gerry business now than 1t ever DID pe-
fore in its history. but in a different way.
The meat business. for Instance, IS no
longer Il part OF the grocery business, ln
is n business Into itself, as was shown u
n former article and the packers now 90
that business. The nail business is also
n separate business, as is also the salt
business to a greater or less extent. MO ;
lasses and sugars. while yet part or
the grocery business, are no longer han-
died and shipped in hogsheads and TO
very limited extent in barrels,
The tendency Of the times Is to handle
| everything in small packages, and mo-
lasses instead OF going out to the retailer
in hogsheads. terces and barrels goes N
cans holding from quart 10 zen saions. a,,
These cans are packed in cases and tha