The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1905-03-30
CRAM HAS Big
establishment

Frank A. Cram, the up.todat mer
chant, has been pursuing a vipor
GUS pollcy OF expansion since the frs
OF February, and today has one of tn
largest clothing and drygoods stores il
the county.
;, The former location of the vii
llams pharmacy is now filed by Mr.
Cram with large stock of clothin,
and shoes, The floor space of thi,
foremost establishment has been al
most doubled and an eight foot base
ment, extending the full area of tn,
Otten brick affords room for storms
an enormous quantity of goods, max
Ing 1t possible for Mr.. Cram to carry
by far the largest stock of goods in tho
city.
When Mr.. Cram left the employ o.
Williams u Co. of The Dailes tC
branch out for himself, he was advised
by some of bis best friends in that
city that it would be the mistake OF
his life to come to Hood River, where
they said there was no business. "Gc
out to the interior where people have
money, they pleaded. But Mr..
Cram came to Hood River, looked the
situation over, and the possibilities
Of this city appealed to his business
eye.
Today the business of the Unto
Date store speaks for itself No other
business in the county has made the
rapid advancements this store has
since September 1901. Mr.. Cram has
no intention Of sitting down, content
that his business is big enough, but
has several extensive enterprises in
contemplation for the future.
Mr.. Grams business affords splen-
did gauge of the thriving condition
of Hood River valley Although 1904
was not successful berry season in
regard to prices, and the sawmills
were not i'll operation, his business
for December last year was Is per cent
above that for the same month in
1903. The increase for the whole year
was 20 per cent OyUr that of the pre-
ceding l. months. "February and
March are what may be called dull if
there are any dull months in business
IN Hood River, remarked Mr.. Cram.
April has always opened out with a
good lead, which is maintained all
through the year. Yes sir, there is
money in Hood River, and it can we'll
be said that every month is a good
business month.
. Hood River people are intelligent
and careful buyers. While, Of course,
there is bound to be some business
done out of town, from actual obser-
walton | am able to say that twice as
much goes out from The Dalles as
from Hood River, taking into con
sideratiOn the relative size of the two
cities.
Hood River people are learning
more and more that it pays to buy
goods at home. While local merchants
expect to be in business for years to
come and are here to make friends
with each customer, an out of town
businessman will endeavor to drive
the best bargain he can for he knows
he may never see the customer again.
My business is conducted strictly
on a cash basis. In this way | am en-
abled to secure goods on close figures
from the wholesalers and by taking
advantage of the discounts can place
the clothing and drygoods on the mar
ket at astonishingly low prices. In
this way the customer has come to
realize that he can make money by
paying cash for his goods. 1t is
astonishing what lot of people in
the town and valley have learned to
do business on this basis"
Mr.. Cram has introduced another
metropolitan feature in his store fix
tues by the addition of cash carrier
system, which au expert from San
Francisco installed the first of the
week. Mr.. Cram proposes in this way
to secure the services of competent
man to take his place at the desk, while
he himself gets into the store to assist
personally in the sale of his goods.