Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-01-03

points than they. used to. People can
find as good or better assortment OF
goods in Ottumwa than they can in
Chicago. The pric are lower. You
might think this false assertion but
] have customers come into our store
IN Chicago, paying more for 1t, than
for the same kind of apparel in our
stock" s
]. B. Sax of the j. B. Sax company
THE year has been very satisfactory
with the exception of one month, Oct-
! ODER Every month has shown graft
flying increase. October was unusually
warm and the business was not up to
| our expectations. The holiday trade
was the largest we ever had. Christ
mas buying In 1910 seemed to begin
! earlier. The days preceding Christmas
We're unusually large. The three days
before Christmas. especially Friday
and Saturday we were swamped with
business and our clerks were unable to
wait upon the many shoppers who
came into our store to trade. The gem
eral conditions in Ottumwa seem good.
There is employment for every man
who wants work. There are jobs look
Ing for men instead Of men looking
for jobs. We notice especially that a
better class Of clothing Is being sold
and the people are demanding 1t and
oA +" llilIlS " pay ZOE 1lTSL CLASS QudIsa
ties. There has been gratifying in
crease in our out of town business.
owe 1t to the efforts Of the Ottumwa
Retail Merchants association in pay
ing the fares Of out of town people in
order to get them to come to Ottumwa
to trade. The growth of the out CT
town business has been great and the
Retail Merchants association can &C
complish no greater work this year than
by carrying out more fully the refund
fare to get more out OF town people to
shop in Otttumwa. The out of town
business would be extended five or
seven times the present number. The
proportion Of business transacted 10
the out of town buyers, to the small
fare paid is low and it should be in
creased this year. The Willingness OF
some of the Ottumwa merchants TO
pay railroad fare Is meeting with pop
ularity among out of town people and
1t is regrettab1e that every Ottumwa
merchant Is not a member Of the as
ISOLATION. They should Join in the good
work being accomplished to attract
out Of town people to Ottumwa to
make their purchases
Claude Myers:-"Our business last
year was much heavier than ever be-
fore. In fact the business was so heavy
that we are preparing more room and
facilities for this year. We didn't have
cHOuSll IOOIII III OuI ice cream OF canQy
factory. We had insufficient room to
display our goods in the retail depart
ment and as consequence we began
to enlarge The ice cream
business was the best ever and ac-
count for this to the changing OF GUS
tom. We formerly closed down our les
cream plant and fountain during the
as much demand for the frozen product
in the winter time, and we run our
and plant throughout the
winter. While the retail trade in Ice
cream is not large In the winter time.
parties and social functions call for Ice
cream in considerable quantities. The
holiday trade this year was heavier
than we ever experienced. 1t was
unusual after Christmas.
The week following Christmas is usu-
ally dull one but that was not the
case last year and our force has been
busy every day the past week waiting
upon the trade. Unlike other business.
the people did not buy their candies
early. waiting for the last few days
higher class Of CONNECTIONS and there
was little demand for the highly color
ed Christmas candies OF few years
ago. We shipped our Ice cream to
much farther points during the past
year. I have installed continuous ice
cream freezer WHICH Will freeze 18V e
gallons of ice cream an hour and with
other modern equipment for the manu-
'acture of the product look for our
business this year to increase very
much over that Of last year.
Carl Dalin, manager OF the Arnold
Jewelry and Music Company: "Busi-
ness during the past year increased.
We had better business last year than
n 1909. This year we expect to increase
our business by carrying q larger line
If jewelry and other articles. The
holiday business started early last year
ind was heavier than the same season
n 1909 with people shopping earlier,
he holiday business was handled cas-
er and there was no rush around
Christmas. The business was steady
throughout the year. IL
c. H. Hagberg, owner Of the II. & r.
Shoe store: -" Business last, year was
about the same as in 1909 The nice
Weather this fall lowered the sale
If articles and other heavy goods but
,ur shoe sales were larger than those
If 1909. The holiday business was
irst rate. The holiday buying started
he first Of December and continued up
% Christmas. The out Of town shop
,ers were numerous. We especially no
iced this by the large number of calls
or refunds from out of town buyers"
Roy Stevens Of the Stevens Shoe
Store Trough weather Is sometimes
thought to be conducive to increased
business in the shoe line, but our bus
ness IN 1910 was unusually brisk OH
Dad as we'll as good days. Especially
lid we enjoy good patronage from
listing shoppers The year was by Tar
he best in the history of our estab-
ishment."