The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-31
MODERN MERCHANDISING
THE MAN WHO so SUCCESSFULLY INTRODUCED AMER ICAN METHODS INTO FEN GLISH BUSINESS, WRITES
 OF THE IMPORTANCE or INTEGRITY.
E. c FOWLER, Special Agen,

spend on newspaper advertising more than twice over what all our competi- tors spend.
 find as ready response to our ad- vertising in London as would come in Chicago or New York or any other large American city. 2 People will read our ads and if the merchandise is what they want they will buy 1t. Human nature" is the same the world over. Local cendf- tions vary with the locality, but people don't vary much--not as an average. You can appeal to the Londoner when you get his attention with just the same things that you appeal to the Chicagoan. It may be harder to get his attention, but when you do your merchandise opportunities are acted on in much the same way. I have proved this to myself. Before opened in London many people told me that Londoners did not know and did not care about values; that they wouldn't change to a new shop-particularly a
 foreign" shop--simply to get shill- ing article for three-pense less. The minute we cut prices on an article of standard quality. goods sell rapidly.
 Although no department stores ad-s vertised in the newspapers before our coming, our advertising has been very effective. When we advertise limit ed number of goods there is always an early rush of buyers, and the stock Is usually sold out by II o'clock or noon.
 We've done another thing we were told we couldn't do. We've had "Am- erican" window displays and kept them brilliantly lighted at night The other London shops don't do this; they have great iron shutters outside their windows and pull these down every at% ternoon at the close of business. It Is Q survival of the old days when 1t wasn't safe to leave windows unpro- tected. Everybody does it. and we were told we'd have to; that our be- ing different would go against the grain with Lendoners. Just the oppo- site has, however. been the result of our being different The sidewalks in front of our windows are thronged at night.
 The British people have not yet learned to regard advertising as a matter of news as people do here The dry goods ads in America are a draw ing feature in newspaper circulation People here have for years found the advertisements in the newspapers in- teresting and valuable.
 They haven't got this idea in Lon- don yet. They haven't the same feel ing that the American public has, that they can't afford to lose an issue for fear of losing an opportunity to save money in buying merchandise.
 But they are already beginning to watch the newspapers for our adver- tisements.
 The circulation of the British papers Is very large, ranging from 100000 to 25o.OOo with an evening paper, for example of 50o.00o.
 You ask about the percentage of failures In Great Britain as compared with those in the United States. I don't see any difference. Failures there are from about the same causes. Merchants may get too ambitious, spread out too much. overstock. over load on their capital. and go to the wall--as they do here. Old establish ed firms may slump down through lack of proEressiveness and let the expense eat up the business; die of dry rot.
 The failures In the dry goods busi- ness are rare. The dry goods business has too large margin of profit to permit a failure under proper manage ment. I can't recall any failure in a large way in the time I've been in London--three years.
 Is 1t true that the British are pre- Judiced against American goods be- cause they're American? Yes, decid- ed1y so; though 1t is more exact to say that they are prejudiced against American goods because they're not British. The British have a very pa- triotic feeling in, the matter They feel that any business which goes out side takes bread and butter out of the mouths of tine British people. There is very decided opposition to Ameri- can goods on this account Even those whose feeling in the matter is not so strong have a little hill to climb before they buy United States products.