Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-01
JOBBERS AND The FACTORIES
Wholesalers Sell Over Ninety-Two
Million Dollars of Goods.
MANUFACTURES DOUBLE THAT
PIants and supply Houses of Omaha
Experience n Year of
able Growth and De-
v~elOpment.

Three conditions made It possible for
Omaha to sell S92.32, 600 worth Of goods at
wholesale and produce in the factories
$1ss. 172, 165 worth Of goods.
These conditions have been overlooked by
those who feared the wholesale houses and
factories would not have as big a year in
merchandising as they had in 1907 when
they reached the most phenomenal business
record in the history of the city and
reached it in actual figures, not in guesses.
According to the business men who look
back over the years record, these are the
things which caused almost every house TO
surprise itself.
Enlargement Of trade territory.
Steady consumption of staples in the
country.
Lower prices which tempted buyers with
plenty Of money during the closing months
Of the year.
W.. S. Wright OF Wright & Wilhelmy was
at his desk the afternoon before New
Years. From a drawer he took a small
black book with pages ruled in fine light
\ red lines.
= I'm not going to lie about it," said the
veteran hardware dealer. II want to tell
you a story before we talk about what the
business has been for the year.
'One time there was a Scotchman who
was arrested and charged with a crime and
= upon the advice of his friends he employed
u" After Meta" talking the mattA all over with
the lawyer. the Scotchman suddenly stop
ped and his attorney inquired: Have you
told me the whole truth?
- certainly haze, replied the Scot.
"'You are sure you have told me the
whole truth?'
"'Yes, l hae, because 1 thought you
could fix up tn lees, better than 1 could
Now that is what l an going to do
continued Mr.. Wright, land that is what
/ would Insist that others do in the matter
of making statements about the business
conditions in Omaha. and If they do this
1t does not seem to me that it will be
necessary for anyone to fix up the lies.
''The truth of the matter is" he said,
as he looked over the pages of the little
book which told a story of many years
business in Omaha. 1.-The truth of the
matter is that the business for 1908 is just
as good as It was in 1907. and besides We
have sold more pounds, dozen, gross and
cases of articles than ever before.
Prices went off. not only in hardware
lines, but in others and our statesmen had
TO sell more to bring the gross sales up
to what they were a year ago.
Better Than Normal.
''The year of 1907 was a record breaker.
The year before. 1906, was a normal bust
ness year in Omaha. The business of 1903 ex-
ceeds that Of 1906-in other words we have
beaten the normal business record. and are
also at the advantage of having eliminated
sulplus stocks, and assisted the factories
in catching up with their orders. The set
back of a few months at the close of 1907
and beginning Of 1908, was a healthy thing.
, Factories which were six months behind
with orders caught up; wholesalers who
had enough Of some lines on hand to last
two years, sold the surplus and quit or
dering until they did; cars which were tied
up in traffic congestion were released and
sent pounding down the long lines of SHIN
mering steel; retailers collected from the
farmers and paid the wholesalers, the
wholesalers paid the manufacturers main
talned their credit and probably owe as
much or more today as they did at the end
of 1907, but the bills are new and the kind
of business which the best business houses
and factories want.
''WithaI, the year has been good. It
opened good. July. August and September
.felS off, but things picked up again and
the close is most satisfactory"
Mr.. Wright shut the little book with a
snap. II is a book which probably only
the proprietors see. Each page tells the
history of one year. The figures of 1905
were scarcely dry. They could hardly be
called business history. they were so fresh
They showed the dollars and cents, they
showed the car loads and the tonnage, the
cost OF transportation and the cost OF selling
In almost every instance 1t is from such
books as this that The Bee secures its
about the actual business done
by wholesale houses-from the most con-
fidential sources. and the figures given are
in the aggregate. making It possible to
obtain from almost every broad minded
business man an accurate statement OF
business conditions.
Smaller Houses Help.
In the dry goods lines the busines closed
about the same as last year. There Ii
not a pliable 2 per cent difference in the
sales Of the big houses. while with the
addition OF a number of smaller houses
which have been pushing out for business
& is estimated that the gross sales OF dry
goods in Omaha for the year OF 1895 ex'
ceeded that of 1907. when 1t was said to b'
SS.575,OOO. This figure compiled January l
1908. was found to be low when the in
voicing was completed February l. Blu
10 make a record for 1903, which would
compare with the record OF lSOf, the uis
goods dealers Of Omaha had to do the mos
? strenuous work they have ever done sine
they first began to trade calico to the In
dams for Connecticut made wampum. Atoms
soon after the first OF the year, prices wen
off-1O, Is and finally all Of 25 per cent II
many lines of staple goods. Cloth which
sold at ~ cents per yard a year ago wa
selling during 1908 for 5 cents. Additiona
statesmen found positions in Territory many
miles beyond the former boundaries o
omaha's trade empire, and more yards
dozen, cases and pounds Of cry goods wer'
sold than ever before in order TO bring tn
gross sales up TO the point which the'
finally reached.
The consumption OF staple and even fame!
lines OF dry goods did not diminish, how
ever, when times became hard and at tn
end Ot 1907. The farmers, In particular hat
the money and they spent 1t ON thei
wives and daughters. When the prices wen
low. they bought two new apron pattern
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