Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1911-01-14
Fight Catalogue Houses.

An organized and well-planned war
against mail order houses of all kinds
has been started by the retail mer-
chants of st. Charles, Mo. The first
step has been the placing in one of the
daily newspapers there of a column
news article exposing some Of the
frauds practiced upon unsuspecting
housewives by "cat' houses, says st.
Louis Interstate Grocer.
This article goes right to the heart
of the receptions INDUCED in by mail
order firms and speaks not only to the
consumer, but to the retail merchant
wherever he is. 1t is a frank appeal
to the public to buy their supplies
from their home merchants and tells
the latter what they must do in order
to compete with the mail house pirates.
The writer, John Klein, says;
I. How merchants must meet mail order
competition:
Tell the truth about your business
and tell it in such a way that the peo-
pie will believe what you say. If all
the truth were to be told in the adver-
tisements of mail order houses, local
merchants would have no problem to
solve so far as this kind of competi-
ton is concerned. 1t is a notorious
fact that a large part of the stuff sold
by mail consists of seconds. Advertise
and tell the public about this, and you
will make some bargain-hunters stop
and think.
1t will frequently be found that local
merchants are charging no more for
first-quality goods than people are pay
ing for seconds that mail-order men
have misrepresented in their advertising
matter.
Sensible shoppers are sure to be in
huenced if they can be shown that they
are not saving anything by sending
their money out of town, and a great
many would be willing to pay a trihe
more to their home merchants were
they satisfied that what the home mer.
chant says about quality is correct.
In the long run the mail-ordeI
houses are going to defeat their own
purposes through their receptions, but
in the meantime merchants must get
busy and hasten the time when people
will not consider it smart or even fair
to send their money out of town when
they can be just as well or even better
served at home. Local pride appeals
to some people, but big bargain offer
has such an attraction for some folks
that they forget their duty in their de-
sire to get something for nothing, or at
least save a few pennies on an impor-
tant purchase.
If this unfair competition is to be
met in practical way, merchants must
render satisfactory service and adver-
tise in such way that all the people
will know that it is not necessary to
go away from home to find bargains
If your advertising matter in the col
umns of the newspaper was going to
their home every day it would have
far more effect than these occasional
catalogue temptations.
Then he tells how he proposed to buy
table from a mail order firm which
had it priced in its catalogue at $4.25
f. o. b. Chicago. He says that as he
walked down the street with his filed
out order in his hand he came across
the same table in local store for 1925
delivered, a saving to him Of 81 and
freight charges.
Then he reproduces sample grocery
orders from catalogue houses, showing
how staples were made leaders in order
to sell seconds" at prices higher than
the retailer will sell them. This expos
ure he makes mighty plain to the Gus
toner.