The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-01-28
II. THE DEPARTMENT. STORE.
WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY JOURNAL BY NATHANlELc g.

Opportunities and Disco
Copyright 1906. by Nathaniel @ Fowler, Jr.>
~HE modern and apparently ire
sistible tendency toward trade
Capitalization and business con
solidation gave birth to what is popu- |
larly known as the department store. A |
department store, broadly defined, is q
store Of departments, a combination Of
what may be considered distinct stores,
yet all under one roof and managed by
one general head.
ment store may sell, a1tho comparatively
few Of them carry other than house
hold goods. Some stores, however, sell
everything from carriages and har-
nesses to meats and provisions. Com
mercially speaking, a dry goods store
which sells other than dry goods may
be considered q department. store, altho
its number Of departments may be lin
tied. IF this classification be allowed,
then substantially all dry goods stores
are now department stores, for there are
few such stores selling only dry goods.
( - :, a+'A
The great department. store is city
itself. It employs from a thousand TO
six thousand persons, Of whom by far
the most are women, l,s
The organization of great depart
ment store is almost military in its
discipline, and is one of the best ex-
amples Of what organization can &C.
complish. The proprietor is com
mander-in-chief, and under him are a
number Of assistants who are what
might be considered district supervis-
ors. Below them are the heads Of de-
partments, who are responsible to their
district chief or to some other head
The foor-walker, the man who is so
much in evidence because he spends
his time in the >aisles, is, in fact, a
superintendent or foreman in charge
Of a department or. series Of depart
ments. 2"4s:@a i. E::::.z
Each counter Is under the general
supervision Of what is known as a head
salesman, but this head salesman is
subject to the direction Of the floor
walker. Of the rank and file Of en-
ployees probably more than 80 per cent
are statesmen and saleswomen, whose
places are behind the counter, and whose
duty is to sell goods from the counter,
none Of them being what is known as
travelling statesmen or drummers. These
great stores maintain extensive book.
keeping and cashiers departments and
a well-organized buying department.
The so-called cash boy or cash girl. has
largely disappeared, the mechanical con
trivances having displaced them but
there still remain bundle girls. whose
duty is to receive the goods from the
mechanical carriers, to properly wrar
them and return them to- the counters
from which they came. In some depart:
ment stores the clerks wrap. -up. the
goods, but in most cases the work is
done, by bundle girls who are placed al
the terminals Of the mechanical bundle:
carriers, or sometimes there is bundle
| girl to each counter, who sits usually
above the shelves. +. III. ~ h
.:-:.: X i.
| AS these articles are devoted to the
| interests of boys and not of girls, il
will hardly be fair to consider the rela
ton of girls and women to the de-
partment store further than to say tina,
about ninety per cent Of the clerks
are women, who are paid anywhere
from 81 to $12 a week; head clerks OF
head statesmen receive from $l2 te
500 a week; but comparatively few
even of the filters in ready-made'
departments, draw salaries Of over $2t
a week. -
Some Of the higher-grade depart
rent >torca employ MIN exclusively il
certain departments, paying them more
than women receive for the same work
First-class, experienced statesmen, in til,
larger stores, seldom receive less thar
$l2 week, or more than 1926 week
altho, occasionally, as much as $50 il
paid, but this latter sum almost in
variably goes to the, head salesman O
to one in charge Of a department
Junior clerks,a that is, green clerks, ar
paid from So 70 SO a week, at the start
The aoorwalker is generally well paid
his minimum salary being not far from
500 week, and his maximum in ex
cess Of $50, with an average of abou
$25. Buyers Of large stores occasional
l ly enjoy incomes Of over $4,000, an,
: from that down to $1,000 a year, an
the average frst-class buyer for larg
department store probably does not re
ceive less than $500 year.
i 81.
Does the great city department stor
j offer good opportunity to the youn
man who desires to take up this bus
ness for a livelihoods
!, In answer, yes and no. The amb
tious and capable department. stor
, salesman has more apparent than res
! competition. The apparent compel
tion is due to the large number Of me
: working along his lines. When it
s considered that not one departures
r store salesman in a hundred has NOR
! than ordinary ambition, has more tina
ordinary capacity, or more than q moo
crate willingness to earn promotion b
: hard. work, it would appear that th
}, boy of ability and ambition, from TIL
;, very fact alone, has a greater oppo
tunity for advancement than he icoul
> have if there was less numerical an
3 stronger mental competition.
e Because the customer comes to Ii
|. salesman, and because the salesma
:, does not have to go to the custome
e4o, o1oc