Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-09

while she made a good average clerk
the millinery department will rouse
personal interest and taste that will put
her at once In the class OF excellence.
The personal relations between che
girls are, of course, a matter of serious
consideration, and there are constant
changes for the good of the service,
which often mean that the alert eye of
the management has seen storm sig
nails before those concerned had got
fairly started into difficulties.
"One of the noticeable changes is the
general employment of many more
women spoken Of as elderly Seldom
does any house discharge saleswomen
because of age. They are usually use
full as long as they wish to stay. For
merly II was not the practice to em-
ploy middle-aged women as new clerks,
but the changes in education and the
larger number OF women having some
sort of business experience has made
them desirable as saleswomen.
Recently had woman of so years
come to me with no business experience.
She had been at the head of family
I'm good circumstances, but change or
fortune and widowhood had made wage
earning a necessity. / put her In the
costume department and told her not
to mention the fact that she was mex
perenced. In less than two weeks she
was equaling in sales. in acquaintance
with the stock, and In intelligent serV-
ice the best employe i'm the department.
She was in earnest, and her home and
social experience exceptionally fitted
her for the work, and she had no false
pride to stand in her way. She is paid
$25 week at the end of three months
service. and will be steadily advanced.
"The highest paid saleswomen in most
department stores are those who sell
women's costumes, coats and wraps,
and furs. The investment here is very
heavy, and the constant change in
fashions necessitates the highest SELL
ing efficiency in getting rid of the gar
ments in the shortest possible time
Nowhere else does the personal equa-
ton count for so much in dealing with
the customer, and the knowledge of the
stock in hand must be precise and COM
prehensive. In these lines very little
of the stock is in view and the sales
woman must carry in her head the re-
sources of the department in color
texture, style, price. sizes and sutabil-
ity.
"Store buyers who purchase woman's
apparel also have the greatest RESPONSE
bility. You often hear about the trips
they make to Europe to select cos
tunes. but all the year round the home
the advertisements of competitors are
carefully checked. and any item that
seems, from its description. to be Of
fered at price that means bargain
to those of US who make bargains. is at
once purchased by our store shopper
and is carefully examined. The maker
is of course easily known to our buyer, |
who is promptly asked to explain If the
wholesale price permitted retail price
of that amount.
The Stores Own Shoppers
1--WE employ shoppers, who are fire.
quently changed, to check the efficiency |
of our own employees. The purpose is |
not to spy upon employees, but to i'm |
prove the knowledge of the girls and to |
have it borne in upon each that she has
a share in maintaining the standard Of
service.
There has been tendency to short
en- the hours, mostly by closing a half |
hour sooner at certain seasons. 1t is |
possible that by opening half an hour |
later and closing half an hour earlier |
we might be able to solve our problem |
of securing good women clerks. AL |
ready we, in common with most depart
ment stores, employ more men each |
year The modern department store |
would seem to offer the best conditions |
of service, the best pay. of any class of |
for women, but if New York |
girls do not think so we will have to go |
into the country to get women clerks
and supplement the supply more and |
more by men.
Several excellent saleswomen were
secured last summer in an unusual way.
We had an account with a woman who |
had been on the stage a good many
years. She came to get an extension of
payment for her bill, because she was
to be without an engagement during
the summer months. I suggested that |
she could go a long way toward paying |
her bill if she would come into the |
store as a substitute during the vaca-
ton period. She gladly consented, and |
found to her surprise that the work had |
advantages in every way over her own |
profession. She elected to stay on, and
has brought other girls of ability, who