The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1907-08-15
COM MIS- SION ROW
NOTES FROM THE MARKET

the big retailer cannot afford to dc
that, and must consequently depend
upon the Western avenue dealer The
wholesaler on Western avenue buys
in large quantities. He orders his
onions from Australia, Texas and
Japan, sometimes a year in advance
His nuts he orders from Brazil. His
potatoes come from various parts of
the United States. In order to do this
sort of business, he must operate on
large scale. The laws of business
and commerce have created a legiti-
mate place for him, an inevitable
place, and the smaller operator who
wants these things must go to him
to get them because he is the only
one with business large enough and
organized thoroughly enough to
gather all these things together from
the uttermost portions of the world
and offer them for sale under one
roof. The public market may work
all right while the farmers who rent
the booths have truck to sell from
their own farms, but when this source
of produce ceases and they must still
pay rent for their booths, how are
they going to do business to make
it pay? This is a problem which will
have to be solved before the under
taking is a success. TIL commission
men want to see it succeed, but they
understand the business of marketing
They know it as business and sci
ence, and they cannot help looking
at it prom a practical standpoint.
Il
J. B. Powles says that he believes
that the proper way to have the pub
lie market conducted is to have a
building with stalls on the inside for
the wholesalers and dealers and to
have the farmers who bring their
produce to the market ranged around
the outside of the building, and thus
keep everything together and have
market place which would be worth
while. With dealers inside selling
poultry and eggs and commodities of
all sorts needed by the consumer, and
the farmers on the outside selling
their produce from their wagons, the
buyer would have a market that would
attract, because of the chances which
would thus be offered for purchasing
all varieties of things needed. He
thinks the pubic market, if it is to
be success, must be real market
center, where the buyer can get every
thing needed. If the selling place of
commodities is not to be centered for
the convenience of the buyer, there
will be no advantage in such an in
stitution for him. If the buyer ap-
preciates that he or she can take a
basket and find everything needed,
then they will become constant pat
rons. But if they must go there to
get some things and then proceed to
other parts of town for other things,
they will soon fail to see the advant-
age of the public market.
After all, it is doubtful if the con-
sumers here in the west will be large
patrons of public markets. The ordi-
nary housewife likes to put her order
in to the groceryman and have it de-
livered at the door. 1t takes her only
the time to order, and the groveryman
does the rest. 1t is questionable if
the average woman will fancy the
idea of putting a market basket over
her arm every morning and proceed
ing downtown on the street car to
public market. This is all very well
for a small town, where the buyer has
to walk only a few blocks and then
home again. But in city like Sc
attic it means a street car ride of
from half to three-quarters of an hour
in most cases, and by the time the
housewife has travelled back and
forth to a public market, the morn
ing is gone. She has lost valuable
time and probably spent as much for
carfare as she has saved by buying
at the market instead of giving the
poor groceryman his profit. Moreover,
she has probably hurt her dignity, as
the ordinary housewife, no matter
hot hA