The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1911-09-09
COMMERCIAL ORGANIZA-
TON OF GREAT VALUE
IN ANY COMMUNITY.


Every retail merchant in the United
States has lost some trade to the cat
alog house. One mail order concern
that has been particularly successful
shows assets of more than $5O,0OO,OOO.
Another falls but a few million short
OF this amount in available resources,
and every merchant knows the names
ing well financially.
This concentration of retail trade in
the large cities is working more harm
to the small towns than all other de-
structive agencies put together. 1t is
taking hundreds of millions of dollars
worth of business away from local
dealers and bringing the profits as well
as the manufacturing and selling costs
to the cities.
Mail Order Houses Menace.
II Is current report that the execu-
tive head of one of the largest cata-
log houses i'm the world some time
lago declared that i'm twenty years he
would control the retail business Of
the country and handle it entirely by
mail.
Should such a condition prevail thou
sands OF towns that now are prosper
Gus would become nothing more than
freight sidngs. or course the boast
was an idle one and the danger Of it's
realization is purely imaginary. But
the constant, endless and savage COM
lpetition OF the mail order houses is a
lpresent fact. and they do menace the
existence OF thousands of retail es-
Establishments.
Better Statesmen Needed.
The mo Place Like Home" cam
paign has to do with mail order COM
petition only as IL adversely affects
the development and prosperity of the
community. But that phase of the
mail order question is of far greater
importance than most people realize.
II is so important, in fact, that it is
} rapidly becoming n national issue.
And the key to the whole problem
lies in one thing; Better Retail Mer-
chandising.
No organization, no plan, no theory
will hold trade at home so long as the
mail order dealer Is a better dealer-a
better salesman-than the home per
chant. The consumer will buy where
he gets-or thinks he gets-the best
value for his moncy-the best service
and the most friendly, congenial treat
ment.
Need Personal Appeal.
Every letter sent out by the catalog
houses radiates a smile and hand
shake Every advertisement they pub
lIsh contains personal appeal. True,
, II is far easier to smile by mail than
when face to face with a hard unreal
soning customer. But the dealer must
smile and treat that customer with the
consideration he expects or away goes
the next order to some catalog center
Unfortunately there are so many re-
tail merchants I'm this country that
: there are bound to be many poor ones
o Just as there are many order takers
on the road who imagine they are
statesmen. And Il is those lily qualified
merchants who cause most OF the trou-
[ BILE. How can they be reached?
Cooperation the Solution.
The question has been answered II
many mmunities-answered so forci-
bly, that there is no room for argument
= Cooperative work among LOCAL mer
= chants will bring the results, and no
thing else will.
II the harness maker loses a Gus
toner and an order goes To some cata
n log house the chances are that IN,
= customer will get the mail order habit
s Soon he will be buying lumber. gro
ccries. drugs. shoes-in fact, every
thing he needs by mail and ever,
merchant in town Is made to suffer 10
? the harness makers mistake.
" interchange OF Ideas.
, Naturally the druggist thinks h
knows the drug business better thai
the hardware man does. but 1T FIRE
ouently happens that the hardwar
IN man could give his druggist frien
some good tips on keeping trade a
tie home. The lumber dealsx..t too. Nigh
lgnther some good the DR.