The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-08-20

r has been said that the greatest fault
OF tho clerk Is lack Of consideration.
From tile viewpoint OF the Gust omer this
J may BIO Just criticism, though, years OF
experience as a profe sslonal shopper have
not shown that clerks are SO different from
other hunnn beings In matters Of polite--
ness. consideration, attention, and Kindred
traits. Gather d thousand people OF any
olhss together. and you wi i find about nlno
hundred who have lttlo consldcrati ton for
other people under any circumstances. Plac-
Ing the thousand people behind the counter
OF n great department store cnnnot change
these figures. Often It Is the fault Of the GUS
toner II sho receives rude treatment It the
hands OF clerk, for even Gus toners are
trying sometimes. 3.5
There is another side to this question OF
the deficiencies OF clerks which is important
from the employers standpoint at least. and
ono which even he fails to realize In many
cases. i3'p 81 55.5
The average clerk knows little about the
goods he sells over the counter. It IS TINS
lack Of knowledge Of tho goods no hahalcs
and tho stock carried in the department
which most frequently allows trace 70 SIP
through his fingers
rho sale OF d bit OF merchandise seems on
lis face a simple thing. 1t is summed up IN
n request from tho customer tho filling out
OF a check BY the clerk, wrapping and de-
livery OF the parcel. Instead, however. OF this
bclnr complete transaction In itself u IS
really tho contamination of a transaction
which Mas been pending for months and Tor
which much time and many dollars have
been spent.
Buyine OF Stock Counts.
n,tasa aro DAYS OF large business and Keen
,,,nt,,Ion rho first thing which has TO
bo considered IS the buying Of the STOCK OF
merchandise. and this means heavy eS-
nensc. not only on account OF the money ~ ~.
waited but because competent puSeis 5f :, = =
sea REQ and demand good salaries. IN soous
must be we'll bought -,
There IL an old saying that . goods we" wen
bought are half sold. - Twenty-hVe eate
arothIs was true beyond doubt. Today
nvcrv merchant exploits his goods by adver-
Using. In addition to being well bought, they
m,st no we'll advertised, No matter no"
wall advertised they may be. they must pc
disn,a we'd in n manner suited 10 the adVer -
tlscment. Each one OF these branches re-
nn,,ires competent, high salaried men 70 oiEece9
and carry out the work.
we viii assume that each has done MS
work thoroughly up to this point-the 1ner-
chandlso has been carefully chosen, bousht
al figure TO insure good profit to the rner-
chant and rea sonable price to the customer
II has been advertised In strong. interest
holding STYLE. and displayed In manner TO
support the advertisement. AT this critical
mint the clerk steps In and meets the GUS
toner to finish the transaction. II ne II
competent, knows his business, and, above
ali knows his stock. everything Will work
out as planned, but letan ncom pete nj clerk
come in at this moment and he can destroy
every possibility of sale that has been
worked up by weeks OF PREPARATION ~
i've minutes he can do more harm to his en-
& n,nycr,s interests than can be remedicdin as
many years. And. according to one OF tho
largest employers In this. city. 1t is more
often Ignorance Of the goods he handles than
any other one thing that spols the trade az
this point.
Clerks Don't Know Stock.
First Of all he does not know his stock
thoroughly There is usually one person In