Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-03-06

Sears, Roebnck d 20. do. lie offers
to sell this buggy for $3.50 when
Sears, Roebuck 4 Co. ask $50 SO
for exactly the same thing. In his
comment on the ad he says: Il am
in position to do just what agree
to do in my ad. can buy the same
buggy that Sears, Roebuck & Co.
do, from exactly the same company
and sell it at a great deal lower price
than they ask for theirs and yet
make a good profit on it,"
! am going to go further this af-
ternoon and prove to you that they
do not handle good goods. I have
in my hand letter from A L
Krieder Shoe Company, Annville,
Penn. In this letter this large shoe
concern say that they have been APP.
preached by certain mail order
house asking them to make shoes
for their use. In this letter he said,
eve told them we would have to
charge 80 per cent. more for the
shoes than they were getting for
them and consequently could not
make shoes for them" | at once
wrote to Mr.. Krieder asking him
for full statement of the quality OF
shoes, asking for exact information
Of them. In the first letter Mr..
Krieder said that he was told by the
catalogue house that they were will
ling to pay SOC for pair of shoes to
retail at $l.00, and he went on to
say that this is just what every re-
taller would be willing to pay for
the same grade of shoes. Remem-
Der this shoe company is worth over
a million dollars ana therefore they
certainly are reliable. In Mr.. Kried-
er's second letter he says, "In our
former letter we did not go into de-
tail but as it seems you are so very
much interested in this subject, we
will give you a few more details.
The particular shoe the writer had
in mind when he wrote you the let.
ter was a misses box calf shoe,
which was described in the cata.
logue as being made of the best
grade Of box-calf, strictly solid with
an extra good leather sole and was
being sold by them at $1.00 per
pair. (This is the description as near
as we can recollect. They were
willing to pay soc for the shoe,
which is just what every retail deal
er is willing to pay for a shoe that
will retail for $l.O0. Now as q
matter of fact a shoe made out Of
the best grade Of genuine box-cali
stock, made strictly solid and the
best kind Of an outsole (Which o.
course must be oak leather if it is
the best) cannot be made by us tc
sell at wholesale at less than $l.5(
per pair and must be retailed fol
5000. The same thing is true il
their description of the Dongols
shoes. We tried to explain this tt
the buyer and showed him plainl,
that the material used in the sho'
such as they described was wortl
more money without adding an,
labor cost, transportation, etc., thai
they were willing to pay for it. o
course we were given to understand
that it was very immaterial whethe
the shoe would fill the description
We told them that if we were tt
make shoe at the price, our de
scription to go in the catalogu,
would read something like this: "a
misses shoe, supposed to be box
calf but made out Of the cheapes
side leather obtainable, containin,
the cheapest counter and insole oh
tainable that will hold the shoe to
gether SO it could be made. Tb
outside soles are cut from hide
which are hard and firm when til
shoe is new but as soon as worn will
swell to about double the size an,
will partake of the nature of dish
rag, but it was the best shoe tina
could be bought for that price"
This letter went on to say tina
their factories, which were three il
number, were running day ant
night in order to keep up with OF
ders, which shows that this factor
is in position to compete with an,
shoe factory on the face Of the earth
in piice.
| told you that I was going t
prove they did not handle the bes
grade Of goods and l am going
do it.
| Ihave a letter from S. Karpen
Bros, whose manufacturing hous
is the biggest of its kind in the ful
niture line and they are rated a
worth more than million dollars
Mr.. Karpen says, "As far as Mon,
gomery Ward & Co. is concerne
we beg to state that they handle
few of our OLD PATTERNS an
we are bound by contract with ther
September the LIST, 1906. O.
anu after that date Montgomer
Ward & Co. will not be able to bu
any more Karpen furniture.
They tell you that they buy di
rect from the manufacturers and ye
have in my hand letter fror
Wilson Bros. who are wholesal
dealers in mems furnishings in Chi
cago. They say, Eve beg to stat
that the position we take in til
matter of selling our merchandise
a very firm stand, a position that
taken by very few houses, that is W
sell to all customers at ABSOLUTELY tn
slme price and only to merchant
who carry a stock Of goods who blu
to sell again. We do not sell S
called catalogue houses who simpl,
have desk room and catalogue.
This shows you that some of thes
concerns who issue big catalogue
and claim to own large factories ar
without a dollars worth of goods an,
have nothing but desk room. Sen