The Newport miner. [volume] (Newport, Wash.) 1899-current, 1910-11-03
Be PATIENT WITH
YOUR RETAILER
He Is Doing His Level Best to
Serve You Property.
HIS JOB IS NOT A CINCA.

Customers Often Fail to Understand
tho Obstacles In the Way of tho Man
From Whom They Obtain Their
Household Supplies.
It Is comparatively easy for the
small merchant to get In diSfavor in
his particular community, often through
no fault Of his own. He frequently
finds himself righteously on the defen-
sive against some of his best customers.
In the present time of high prices ex-
plantations are demanded of him that
he isn't able to clear up, at least to the
satisfaction of the aggressive GUS
toner.
More than this, in these times Of
sharp trading in so many sections of
the country the merchant in dealing
with the jobber gets hard knock in
an unexpected manner. One Of these
devices of the crooked" jobber is pre-
sented by the salesman stranger who
appears with proper credentials from
the improper house he represents. says
Irwin Ellis in an article In the Chi
cago Tribune.
This salesman pushes his sales hard.
The retailer in the provincial town
expresses his fears that such pur-
chases will not be justified by his
trade. The salesman is voluble. cheer
full and full of promises. He will let
the customer lay in his certain lines
and if they don't ''go" the manufac-
turing or jobbing house that he rep
resents will agree to Exchange" to
full purchase cost of the goods.
Later the wisdom of the retailer is
proved. He has his contract and re-
turns these certain lines of goods
which he has reason to believe were
covered to indemnify him. But the
Exchanged" goods when unpacked
are discovered to be far below the
quality of the goods of first shipment
But such a merchant can do nothing.
His contract has left out the whole
question Of quality. The emphasis has
been laid upon the ready exchange.
Among the small business men,
whether in towns. villages or neigh
borhoods in the cities. the small bust
ness man has burden upon him of
pleasing which may become burden
indeed. Many of his customers grow
to know him by sight and name. He
may be Bill or Jack or John to a whole
neighborhood.
But, whatever the relationship on
personal basis. he has his customer
banking upon that relationship to the
advantage of every other house In the
neighborhood. He may be grocer
and marketman. He gets his fruits,
vegetables and kindred daily supplies
in order at 8 O'Clock. 9 o'clock or later,
as the distance increases from the sup
ply center. These everyday supplies
are displayed for sale to the best ad
vantage for the early personal shop
per. Most of his telephone orders come
later in the day, when his scores of per-
sonal buyers, seeing to what they get.
have handled the stock more or less.
Nothing is more simple than a state
ment of truth-that fruits and vege-
tables. even meats and many other
kinds of market supplies. cannot be as
desirable and fresh and tempting at
o'clock in the afternoon as they were
at 8 o'clock that morning. Among
these fruits and vegetable supplies the
shopper. coming 1n person. has tilted
boxes, gouged into them. perhaps,
peeped into bottom layers and made
like inquisitions, all to the detriment
Of perishable goods Can the Smith
: household, which telephones at 2
$ o'clock in the afternoon, expect to re-
, ceive such goods as. those which Mrs.
!. Jones in person chose at 8 o'clock in
J the morning and the exhibition Of
which caused Mrs. Smith to telephone
Z for the goods? Yeti Mrs Smith gets
chance in the next few days she'll
lump all over the grocer" about the
matter, which has been impossible for
the grocer to prevent.
Occasionally the honest grocer tells
Mrs. Smith over the telephone that
really he hasn't just the kind and quail
ity of goods that she wants. This is
not enough. often, for the reason that
Mrs. Smith is expecting friend or
two in to dinner and must have some
thing. The grocer may do his best
choosing for her and Mrs. Smith be
just as disappointed and sore as she
can be.
l should say emphatically that Mrs.
Jones. who walks over to the market
early and observes the decencies of
shopping in not paving over perishable
stuff to the detriment Of the shoppers
after her. deserved the best that is In
the house; that Mrs. Smiths telephone
order late In the afternoon takes
distinctly second choice. But you can't
get the Smiths to see 1t that way.
Good Rule In Trading.
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