Arizona republican., 1909-12-20
The Prices in Arizon. Stores


 ure of the rate question which is bet ter understood by shippers than by consumers-the fact that the prices charged in Arizona stores of which complaint is occasionally heard are due to many conditions in addition to high freight rates. The reductions an- nounced. while amounting to enor- nous savings yearly to the shippers m the aggregate. will not enable storekeepers to make the reductions in selling prices that consumers in many cases may expect. Indeed. there are many articles of most general con- sumption in which it will not be prac- ticable for retailers to make any re- ductions in justice to themselves
 In other words. there are numerous factors entering into the question of prices. quite apart from freight rates factors of far greater importance. in fact-which the retailer must take into consideration in making up his
 
 are peculiar to Arizona and others are of general application all over the country, but the latter are over looked by those who think that Ari- zona alone bears the burden of in creased living expenses.
 Some of the local conditions with A,;1
 tend are: high taxes. high rents. ex- cessive cost of fire insurance. high wages for help" and high interest rates.
 m Arizona, as in every new and growing community. taxes are high. In city like Phoenix, in which real estate values are rapidly increasing, the retailer finds the rental cost of his premises an important feature which must be included in the expense of doing business. In this city fire in- surance does not cost quite so much as formerly. but is stin costly fac tor in business expense: and in the smaller towns the cost of insurance is almost prohibitive. But insurance must be carried, and the cost of it, together with all other fixed charges. must be taken into account in fixing the selling prices of goods. The sala- ries paid to clerks are just about double the salaries paid in the east
 
 CTS. and they must pay in interest the prevailing value of money -w which. again. is about double the value of money in the east Ana in addition to these local features which are necessarily in-s cluded in the selling value of goods. is the increased cost of the goods in the wholesale markets Take, for ex- ample, the item of clothing. Resi- dents of the territory who have been here number of years are apt to make comparisons to the detriment of local dealers, because they have not kept in touch with the increased cost l If clothing all over the United States. | Fifteen years ago. to be sure. a good | suit of clothes could be bought at re- tail in eastern cities at s15 to SIS | Recalling that fact, the long time | resident eff Arizona may grumble at | the prices he pays here But if he | were in position to make compari- | sons with present prices in the east | he would find that clothes cost him | almost as much there as here. And | the standard favorite makes cost | fully as much in the east as in Phoe- | nix. notwithstanding the local condi- | tons to which we have referred. That l is to say. suits selling at s25 or up- wards here sell for the same prices in | the eastern retail markets. Many | other articles besides clothing could be mentioned which now cost almost as much elsewhere as here And what resident of the Salt River valley is unfamiliar with the fact that for the same goods he will generally pay a higher price in Los Angeles than he does here2
 There is another thing which grum- blers overlook. and that is that Ari- zona people demand the best quality of everything and things of tine best quality cost more. Tie clothing and dry eoot. stores e. P.oenix carry stocks of higher average quality than is found in eastern stores. The mail order houses of the great eastern cities. flooding as they do the country with their catalogues. have done much to develop the idea here as elsewhere in the west. that local merchants 'rge too much These mail order
 invariably sell goods inferior
 to the stock in Ari-