Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-03-06
Montoomerv Ward 3 O. and SIM.

Montgomery Ward & Co. and sup
posed that they were going to be
shipped direct to them, but later
they informed US that they wanted
us to ship these from our factory to
their trade, which we have been do
ing, but as soon as they take the
bases which we do not catalogue and
do not continue to make any more
on account of their poor selling
qualities, we will not consider for a
moment selling them any more
goods.
Now then, l want to call your at
tention to the largest concern of it's
kind in the world. That is the
Henry Somehow & Son, clothing
manufacturers, Baltimore, Nd.
This concern is worth about two
million dollars. Mr.. Somehow
says, "The class of goods which
these houses in question purchase
from us and which ANY
OTHER MAIL ORDER DEPART
MENT that might want to do bust
ness with us, purchase, are not made
up of the better grade and stylish
stuff such as firms like yourself use,
but mostly Of a cheaper grade rang
ing below what the avegage mer-
chant handles. The reason for this
is that we will not sell to one firm
goods any cheaper than we sell to
another. We have only one price
whether it is for big mail order
house or little retailer. The con-
sequences are that even though we
did sell to a mail order house the
same grade of goods we sell to you,
they could not compete with you at
all because in the first place you
know that when a man can buy the
same article for the same price Of
two people one of whom only de-
scribe the article while the other has
it right there before him, he is 60
ing tobuy from the man who has the
goods in his hand. Furthermore,
these concerns operate under an
ENORMOUS EXPENSE which
would not permit them to put our
goods out at the SAME PRICE
THAT YOU DO. AS long as they
cannot buy them any cheaper than
above pointed out, of course they
cannot handle our merchandise in
competition with YOU at all
Now will you tell me that they
handle good grade of goods when
we have such evidence as this in addi-
ton to what I havegiven you. Ihave in
my hand a letter from another whole
sale house, Edwards Stanhope Shoe
Company of Chicago, they say:
1--WE SELL THEM ONLY JOB
LOTS" and any man who is familiar
with the merchandising business
will tell you that job lots are odds
and ends, and nearly always odds
and ends are out Of date stuff and
nine times out of ten of a poor
quality.
/ What is the result in North Da-
kota: Up there Prof. Laid, Pure
Food Commissioner, made an
analysis Of paints sold by Sears,
Roebuck & Co. and over his own
signature he says that in that
analysis he found their paint con-
tanned 25 percent pure water. Miss
Reporter put it down In plain
English, that 1 said that according
to chemical analysis, the Pure Food
Commissioner of North Dakota,
found that this paint contained 20
percent water.
There is no comparison when you
consider this, and L tell you they
cannot sell goods as cheap as the
merchants in the cities and smaller
towns. Take for instance room rent
\ room in this town that will rent
for $500 year, on the principle
streets in Chicago would rent for
J $4,000. You can get just so much
J goods into that room and no more.
You can do just SO much business
in that room and no more. And
any person of common sense will
know that when you do business in
a place costing you $4,000 year
that it will cost you more than ii
does doing business in room cost
ing you 5000 a year.
| was at furniture merchants
meeting short time ago. and a
representative Of one of the largest
retail furniture houses between Chi.
cago and San Francisco said that
they always got from 5 to 20 pc,
more for their goods than the fellows
in the smaller towns asked for them
1t costs more to live in city hence
profits must be larger. When l was
coming up to this hall | stopped in
one of your grocery stores and found
eggs were selling at 25 cents q
dozen in Manchester and at the
very same minute were selling a,
IS cents dozen in Des Moincs.
y We are suspicious of every ones
! attitude toward us, and the more We
deal with man, the better we know
him, the more apt we are to be
! suspicious. Distance lends en-.
chantment, familiarity breeds sus
picion. 1t is just like the Irish
woman said, when she stood in a
crowd on the street and watched
, the King go by, HE is just mon.
, Before she saw him she thought he
was something great, but seeing
} him did not bear out the opinion
} she had at distance.
Don't YOU know that you and are
prone to think the other fellows
business is more profitable than ou1
, own. We cannot see and dom
) know the expenses there are in
, carrying on his business and we see
only tho amount of money he gets
for what he has to sell. One of you
; farmers will sell horse for $3.50