Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-29
Stores Are Selling Cheap Goods.

Stores Are Selling Cneap IoooS.
At the big department stores here they
tell me that they are selling as many
low-priced goods as they did in the fall
of 1906 and much more than they sold In
the fall Of 1907. The demand for high
priced goods is not so great as in 1906,
although it is considerably greater than
at this time last year. In November. 1907.
there was nothing doing In high-prlced
goods People bought only what they
were compelled to buy. They still hesitate
about buying luxuries. Extravaganza has
been checked, temporarily. at least. costly
diamonds and other jewels are a drug on
the market One Of the managers OF the
largest Jewelry houses in the world re-
marked today that nobody was buying
ten thousand-dollar necklaces this fall,
and that the prospects for the Christmas
trade were good in loW-prlced artlcles
only. The high-priced jewels are packed
away in the vaults waiting until the rich
! people of this city have caught up with
the losses they suffered last year. 1t was
really a rich mans panic, and nowhere
was it felt so severely as in the most
fashionable and eXtravagant circles or
New York.
Panic Ruined jewelers..
THE furry last fall closed out half the
jewe,ry stores in this city" said a man
who knows. land many others have been
'trusteed.' That was due to the fact that
they had been selling expensive jewels in
the most reckless manner and taking the
notes of their customers in payment
When IA jewcler sells diamond necklace
for $4,000 OH time he would be glad to
get $4,000 in cash for the same article.
| This practice of selling jewels on time
was prevalent among certain dealers here
for several years up to the panic and
|
tive merchants in the diamond trade.
Many of them lave been g ad TO give up
the notes and take back the stones, be
cause the notes were practically worth
less and the jewels are worth at least half
or tWO-thirdS of what they were sold for.
| But of course. in every instance Of this
kind the profits have vanished. No New
York jeweler would sell d diamond neck
lace on time today unless he knew his
customer thoroughly
The manager of the big JeWeiry house |
alluded to says that the trade thus far
this fall Is about 60 per cent greater than
l. was last year at this time. lie eN-
poets an even larger Increase in the De-
cember trade because New York did not
really feel the effects of the panic until
December, a year ago. He does not eX-
pect that the holiday trade will be Us
large as it was in 1896. or even 1903, but
he is confident ii will be fully equal to
F, that of 1904. and will represent an equally
! large number of transactions, although
! the average will not be SO large
amount as in 1906.
Hotels Not Yet Filled.
| At the office of the Daily Hotel Report
| er I was told that few of the fashion
| able hotels in New York are filled, but
the rest are advertising for patronage.
The hotels patronized by merchants and
what are called middle class people,"
are not yet doing a normal business. but
/ there is a decided improvement over
| last winter. The number of buyers in
| town has not been quite as large as
| usual this fall, and they have not brought
| their families with them as they did two
| years ago; and they are not spending SO
much money. At the fashionable hotels
| are many people who are coming in from
Europe and from their country places
| and putting their New York residences in
! habitable condition. They are not spend
| ing as much money as in 1893 and 19Ot,
but more than in 1907, at this time.
! The Hotel Reporter Peep e explain that
| the number of hotels has increased rapidly
during the last year or two. New York is
oversuppIied with hotel accommodations,
which have been provided by real estate
| Spectators. WHO expected that the boom
| times OF 1905 would continue indefinitely
and that people would always spend as