The Colorado statesman., 1906-05-19
TRADE AT HOME"
PROBLEM THAT Is BROUGHT
HOME TO COMMUNITY.
Nhy Do Mail Order Concerns Thrive
When Consumers Are Not
BenefitedP-The Home
Advertisement.

The increasing volume OF business
which is being directed from local
dealers to the big mail order houses is
threatening the prosperity of thousands
of country towns and cities. The busi-
ness of these big concerns is multiply
ing at an alarming rate, and If the ra-
to continues the ultimate demoraliza-
ton of business in many rural towns
is II foregone conclusion, says Edward
K. Slater, food commissioner of Mime
sofa, in the Retailers journal, Chi
cago.
Who suffers the greatest financially?
1t is the business men of the communi-
ty. Any disinterested person familiar
with the ms and outs of the business
will concede that the consumer is not
profiting at the expense of the home
merchant. If this were true the con-
sumer could not be blamed for taking
the best end of the bargain. For the
sake of the argument we will assume
that the consumer is receiving just as
good treatment at the hands of the
mail order house as he does from his
home merchant. The loss to the mer
chant must be somebody's gain. 1t
follows. therefore. that the mail order
house proprietor is the only one who
IS benefited.
But the question naturally suggests
itself, why does the business of the
mail order house increase at such an
alarming rate if the consumers are
not being benefited? This is one of the
greatest arguments advanced by the
advocates of the mail order business.
The answer is found in the fact that
the purchaser responds to advertising
and he doesn't like to do business with
a country merchant who went to sleep
soon after he opened up his business
and hasn't walked up yet That is the
situation in a nutshell.
The business of the mail order
houses has been built up on advertis
ing, advertising, advertising!
My department has been giving con-
siderable attention to groceries shipped
into the state Ev mail order houses.
We have been trying to place before
the consumers the fact that many of
these goods are Illegal under our pure
food laws, and that this department
has no jurisdiction over such ship
ments. We cannot punish such violat-
ors and thus protect the consumers.
as we are enabled to do when the goods
are sold inside The state. 1t follows,
as matter of course, that this depart
men. desires to see goods only pur-
chased through local dealers, so that
all consumers will receive the protec-
ton afforded by strict enforcement
of our pure food laws.
The country merchant must do his
duty if he desires TO compete<with the
catalogue house. He must beat him
with his own weapon-advertising. He,
too, must have special prices on certain
articles if he wishes to hold the home
trade. Grocers and country merchants
who think they are so located that
they cannot advertise successfully
should study the subject of advertising
There is probably no store, city or
country, whose business could not be
advertised successfully if the propri-
etor only knew how and has the nerve
and patience to do it. There are a few
country merchants in remote localities
who have mastered advertising so sue
cessfully that mail order competition
does not bother them. This idea that
you have lived 50 long In a town that
everybody knows you and you don't
need to advertise is a mistake. This
very Indifference to advertising, indif-
ference to doing business the way busi-
ness is done in this day and age, is
what has enabled the mail order houses
to grow from mere nothing 40 great
concerns.
The merchant who can convince the
people of his section and keep them
convinced that his store is the best
place to buy this and that article will
not lose trade to the mail order house.
OF course, he cannot afford to get out
catalogue as thick as Bible. but he
can keep AN advertisement in his local
papers and see that II is changed every |
week, thus keeling new bargains con-
tinually before the public He should |
also have mailing list and send out
a circular letter at least once a month. |
Nothing is more discouraging than
beginning an advertising campaign. |
Results are almost invariably slow at
first. 1t takes pluck-you must keep al
1t and master it.
Don't look upon your country news
paper as an object of charity. There
is not single country newspaper in
your state, with a general local circu-
lation, which is not able to give full
value for money received. The country
papers can help you solve this question
If you will give them the chance.