The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-01-31

SsSsst WAAASsA 'IAACkS0S MON600i S0IAyS anu
from which the consumer may select,
and the willing prepayment In cash
by the country buyer, renders the COM
petition fierce and frequently unprofit-
able. These houses, which were orig
inal1y started In q small way, were, In I
their incipiency, considered harmless
and Legitimate, and their wants were
as freely supplied by the jobbers as
we're the wants Of other dealers. AS
they grew In size and strength, they
became valuable customers to jobbers
and manufacturers, and, regret to
say, were not cut on by the former
and by any Of the latter until long
after they had become menace to
the merchants whose business 1t was
to supply the customers In their re-
spective localities. This lack of
promptness on the part of jobbers In
declining to sell to catalogue houses
was due, in part, to the human-per-
haps greedy-desire to sell goods, but
more especially, to a lack of realiza-
tion upon their part of the real dam
3 age which their customers were sus-
tanning at the hands Of catalogue COM
petttors. l question whether retail
ers, themselves, In the outset, had any
just comprehension of the evil which
the principle itself engendered.
At this point, may venture to be a
little bit personal in saying I have
been told that there is one man, in,
particular, travelling through South,
Dakota and reporting to the merchants
that the teams Of Hibbard, Spencer,
Barelett & Co. are daily seen deliver
ing goods to the catalogue houses and
the teams Of these houses are fire.
Guently backed up at the store Of Hib-
bard, Spencer. Bartlett & Co. to be
loaded with merchandise; and In ask
Ing, should this Individual cross the
line into North Dakota and make SINH
lar statements, that you tell him his
story is unqualifledly false and with
out 9 shadow of foundation in fact;
and in suggesting that, IL you choose,
you may use more emphatic language
tnan that IN which the speaker is now
indulging.
And may further beg you to add
that you know of a handsome sum Of
money which this man can secure as
mas own by proving to the satisfac-
ton of the officers OF e11her the Retail
Hardware Association of Soulh Dakota
or the officers of the Retail Hardware
Association of North Dakota (they to
be the sole judges aud jury) that Hib-
bard, Spencer, Bartlett e Co, since
their first public declaration that they
did not sell to catalogue houses. has
ever directly or indirectly, for cash or
for credit, sold dollars worth If
goods to such houses The man is a
model salesman
The jobbers. are making strenuous
EFFORTS to convince all manufacturers
that they should decline to make ship
ments not only to catalogue houses.
Duts to any dealers who will supply
tnese houses. More than this, the lob
Ders are -curtafling, so far as posi-
Ole, their purchases from those man
ufacturers who have not Joined this
movement.
1t seems to me that your business
success depends, In part, upon your
earnest, constant and unceasing CO.
optration with the jobbers, and with
such manufacturers as have pledged
themselves to withhold their product
IRON the catalogue house. Are Won
F doing this? Are the members of this
association discriminating In favor
OF those manufacturers and brands of
goods which are not sold through cat
alogue houses? How many merchants.
for example, assembled in this CON
Venhon, are declining to buy goods
manufactured by the Ammunition as
ISOLATION because that association has
made precisely the same contracts
with the catalogue houses that It
makes with the largest jobbers in the
country? am using this illustration
simply because 1t is a pertinent and
easy one (you all dealing in that limo
OF merchandise) and not because the
ammunition people have done any,
thing more fragrant in this direction
than have large number of other
manufacturers
But, gentlemen, you must go further
than this If you wish to retain the
business to which you are Justly en-
titled. 4 say justly entitled advisedIy.
because, at cost of time, labor and
money, you carry stocks of goods
convenient to the homes of your Gus
toners; you supply those customers
on credit, and should have call on
their cash purchases; and you would
unquestionably supply their wants
tnrough the year at as low aggregate
ing away from home. These foreign
purchases can be attributed, in part
at least, to an innate vanity in buying
at what the consumer is led to believe
are headquarters.
Further than this, / believe that
your larger business success is some
what dependent upon your extending
your influence to other branches Of
trade than the hardware. Suppose
the enterprising gentlemen who have
formed this association and constitute
Its membership (may say in paren-
thesis what you already knOw-that
they were very wise in thus associat-.
ing themselves) should each in his
own town awaken the interest Of his
fellow merchants in all lines Of bust
ness, and these merchants should in
form their jobbers THAI, In future. they
preferred not to sell goods which
were handled by catalogue houses;
and If the hardware dealers in other
states should pursue the same course
in awakening interest and enthusiasm
among their fellow merchants, how
long would 1t be before catalogues
would grow smaller and smaller in
size and less and less in number?
IS A large jobber OF groceries in Chi
cago recently said that SO much pres
sure was being brought to bear upon
his house, by his competitors, that the
Il firm was seriously, considering the adj
visibility Of following the example
set by the hardware jobbers.
In the meantime, what is to be done
to conserve the business and insure
Its profits? There can be but one
answer: Adopt Methods that will
meet and counterfeit the influences
i which are undermining your, trade.
Do not wait for customers to drift
into your stores. but 20 for their