Los Angeles herald., 1908-08-11

chamber of commerce and the Mer-
chants and Manufacturers association.
Four Flags Raised
| At the conclusion of the exercises
the speakers and audience went to
the large roof garden for the flag rails
ing. The American flag, the California
bear flag and those Of the city of Los
Angeles and of Hamburger's were
raised at the different corners of the
building. Prizes were awarded to the
winners in the stores flag ode contest,
namely, Miss Katheryn A. Turney,
writer of the California flag ode; Miss
Olive Espey, author of the Los An
geles flag ode, and Mrs. James s.
| France, who wrote the ode to the
Hamburger house flag.
Those on the roof then scattered to
| join the throngs inspecting the various
departments. For the rest of the day,
without any noon intermission, the ele-
vators were taxed to their capacity of
| $500, and even the stairways were filled
with visitors.
The escalator or moving stairway,
leading from the main to the second
floor, was a leading attraction, and its
capacity of thirty-four a. minute was
the usual demand made upon it. Prob
ably $4,000 persons took the ride, and
| lIlG uGIlltdIlOI VI lIlOoC WIN OSSoSACAA1AAJ
failed to realize that they had arrived
on the upper floor was a source of
amusement to a large crowd all day.
| The moving stairway is the only one
| installed west of st. Louis, and, aside
| from it's attraction as a novelty, is a
great convenience to persons who may
not wish to use an elevator, since 1T
| moves so smoothly that none of the
elevators disagreeable effect is notice.
able.
The moving stairway is only one of
many features which emphasized the
care exercised in planning the facili-
ties of the store. The elevators are of
the latest and safest pattern, and the
stairways and fire escapes have been
installed in accordance with the most
approved methods. New features, new
to the merchandising world as we'll as
to Los Angeles, are apparent every
where.
Not the least striking of these is the
delivery system, which is entirely orig
inal with the Hamburgers. 1t does
away with any handling of goods on
the sidewalk and establishes the high
est standard of cleanliness in handling
stock Curious crowds gathered yes
terday at the rear of the Hill street
side of the building to watch the de-
livery wagons drive up through a
passageway from the basement. All
the wagons are loaded in the base
ment, where the great gravity pack
age carriers bring purchases from all
departments. A special freight elevator
system cares for deliveries too fragile
or too bulky to permit handling
through the gravity carriers. The de-
liveries are managed in way that
makes a great saving of time, while the
capacity is equal to any emergency
Advance Credit System
Another innovation making for ease
in shopping is also first introduced in
the west by the Hamburgers in the
advance credit department. 1t is es-
peciaIly designed for customers who
may not care to be bothered with pay
ing cash and receiving change on eacn
purchase and gives all the advantages
of the credit system with additional
inducements to the customer. The al
vance credit department is located on
the main floor, where a customer may
leave on deposit any amount not IN
excess of $500, and then instruct the
| sales clerks to have purchases paid 1Or
by the department. The plan is as easy
as saying charge it," with the extra ad-
| vantage that per cent interest is PAID
upon deposits and per cent, II the
depositor agrees to make at least one
purchase, no matter how small once
week. The officials of the firm have
figured that it is worth per cent to
get a customer into the store, and they
have evolved this way OF giving the
customer the advantage.
The transfer check system Of making
purchases has been greatly improved
through the larger facilities of the new
store and a transfer desk has been
placed on the main t1oor, with every
other adjunct carefully planned 10
make shopping pleasant. TO accom-
plish all this and adjust It to the I'M,
mensity OF the new store has required
| a tremendous amount of detailed at
tention by M. A. and D. A. Hamburger,
and in this work they were ably as
sisted by w. e. Chamberlain, assistant
president, and d. H. Schuhmann, man
ager of the sales departments.
They were so successful that every
detail of the opening moved off smooth
ly and without a hitch in any depart
ment and, which is more remarkable
with an institution of such magnitude,
without the loss of a minutes time in
| business hours between the closing or
the old store Saturday on Spring street
| and the opening yesterday morning.
Men experienced in retail merchandise
ing say this is unprecedented.
Employees Enthusiastic
ITO say that we are all pleased and
proud of Hamburgers is putting 1t very
mildly" said w. e. Chamberlain. as
sistant president of the firm, and the
Oldest employee of the corporation. IL
the Hamborgers themselves be ex-
cepted. Mr. Chamberlain has been
with the store through twenty-three
years of continuous service. William
Cline, who is employed on the finishing
| of the building as a timekeeper by the
Hamburger Realty and Trust COM
pany, was clerk with Hamburgers in
1881, the first year of their business
1.-THE very fact that everything is so
well in badness speaks volumes for
the Hamburger policy" said Sales
Manager Schuhnaann. 'In all my ex-
| perience with stores in the east and
south, as well as In the west, never