The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1904-05-20
IN A DEPARTMENT STORE.
Important Parts Filled by the Adver-
Using Men and Buyers.

Important Parts Filled by tho Adver-
Using Men and Buyers.
The man who writes the daily adj
vertisement for a big store commands
a big salary-ten or fifteen thousand
dollars. He must be original, resource
full, and witty-a man Of ideas, alert
to see and use opportunities. The quail
ity of his work tells day by day, for
the effects Of cleverly written adver-
tisement show Immediately in the in
creased sales in particular depart
ments. Every night, the reports of
gross sales in the three-score depart
ments, as compared with the CORE
spending days in the previous week
and the previous year. indicate wheth-
er the days advertising appropriation
has been well spent. Every day the
buyers" give the advertisement writer
a draft OF the next days particular of
ferings-a clearance sale of winter
overcoats, a shipment of Partisan dress
fabrics, bargains in new novels, or a
cut-price sale of canned goods. These
the advertisement writer YIELDS into
one big display announcement, which,
when it has been approved by the gen
eral manager, becomes the law and
gospel of the next days business.
Copies of it are posted on all the floors
and are put into the hands of all the
salespeople. Every salesman and sales
woman in a department must learn,
the first thing in the morning, the spe-
cial prices at which wares are offered
in the days advertising. The days
advertisement is the Baedeker for both
shoppers and salespeople
The massing of three-score or more
varied shops under one roof demands
an efficient staff of department heads,
or buyers" The worth of a buyer is
| measured by the amount of net profit
| he can show at the end of the year.
| He must be on the alert to seize OPP
portunities for acquiring desirable
| stocks at low prices-the bankruptcy
of manufacturer or a big merchant
is one Of thees opportunities; he must
be able to forecast the future tastes
and demands of the shopping army;
he must know when to plunge, buying
ten, twenty, or thirty thousand dollars
worth of goods in a single order; he
must know when to push and when to
mark down certain stocks, and all the
time he must keep his weather eye Oh
the doings of buyers in rival stores
If he carries q line of foreign goods
he makes yearly trip abroad to buy
directly from the makers, whether il
be Partisan gowns, German toys, OF
Persian rugs. The toy buyer goes
to the Continent. in January, to order
his next Christmas stock. The sue
cessful buyer is master of his depart
ment, and he usually commands a higl
salary, sometimes as high as twent!
or thirty thousand dollars a year, al
though four-fgure salaries are the rule
Every night, at the close of business
the salespeOple give the amounts O
their total sales to their buyers. who
in turn, foot up their department to
tails. The buyers then report to tn,
general manager, who compares tn
days sales with the business the yea
before. Marked variations are mad
the subject of inquiry Every night
when the general manager leaves tn
store, he knows to a cent the days re
ceipts, how they compare with the pre-
vious year, and, if they vary from tn
normal, the reason therefor.-Success