El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-11

I partment store Of the American cities.
which provides every comfort in the
trade and which someone has said has
done more than any other commercial
institEtiOn to promote the standards
of present day clYlllZa ton. Yet there
are points of similarity between them,
and the second is really only an eVOlu-
ton of the first. Each aims as nearly
as possible to supply all the needs OF
the community IN which 1t IS located
The difference lies in the classes Of
I needs which each has been able to de-
velOp-
A generation ago the stores of q town
were classified according to the goods
sold one went to nat store for
hat, a shoe store for shoes and a fur
nitUre store for furniture Now in
great department store all of these ar
ticles may be bought under the same
roof and it often seems that the buyer
gains both in the time saved and also
in the price In this age Of cOnsOllda-
ton it would naturally seem reason
| able tON suppose that if a number Of
classes of products could be sold under
the same roof, the saving in rent and
space might make possible smaller
profit than is required by a store de
voted to one article. Yet, while the
department stores seem to handle eY-
cry article, from pocket handker-
chief to an automobile, they do not by
any means do away with the special
Z
eddy tended to lower the number and
also to reduce their profit, which last
is an advantage to the daily consumer.
store Banks Are Popular.
Not many years ago large firm,
controlling department stores in sew
eral cities, added banking to the IA
! cilities afforded its customers for do
ing business under one roof The eN-
ample was soon followed by other
stores. The store bank has already
been well received by women, who
/ after all constitute large majority OF
the shoppers in every class OF store
! The bank provides for check accounts
I receives small deposits, permits small
daily balances, and pays the same rate
1 of interest upon checking accounts that
some of the savings banks pay for saw
/ iugs accounts not subject to checking.
The growing tendency on the part Of
hOusekeepers to keep house upon
definite weekly or monthly allowance
| and to pay all bills by check, renders
this bank especially popular.
+ It is probably a good business stroke
/ which locates the bank just opposite
/ the grocery department so that while
going to deposit their money. women
are confronted with the most tempting
/ table delicacies the market aIIOrds-
! 1t naturally follows that the greater
I amount Of the checks CaShed In this
bank are in payment Of bills contracted
| in the store, and yet there IS no OBJ
legation upon the part of anyone 10
have il so.
The Furnishing Of Homes.
A lawyer recently went to the head
/ of a large department store with a
! curious contract. He had client VINO
had made a great deal of money in
I western mine. so that he had been able
to send his daughter to a fashionable
I finishing school and afterwards, &C
cOmpanied by her mother she went 20
/ Europe where the generous checks OF
her father enabled her to be presented
l at court and TO enter society She be
| came engaged to man OF title ana
/ she and her mother were now on Lnelt
! way home to prepare for the wedding.
/ The father was ordered to have prop
| erly furnished home in readiness 10 re-
| ceive them. He put the matter In the
] hands of a lawyer who had only ABOUT
! two weeks to complete arrangements
| but being a wise man the lawyer went
! to the biggest department store IN the
| city anu gave IL the contract for Iur-
| nishing the mansion he had purchased
for his client.
/ The heads of the various depart
/ ments were called. and, when com
/ pIeted. the home had nothing TO sug-
] gest haste or want of consideration IN
/ any detail Of its arrangement one
/ of the special features No1 TINS store
! was a cooperation with a reliable en-
/ plOyment agency, so that mousse
/ keeper was installed with a well Sc
J lected staff of servants who were so
] thoroughly instructed in their duties
! that, by the time the prospective bride
| arrived with her marquis. there was
| nothing to indicate that they were not
] coming into the home the lady mad
known since her infancy.
| Most of the department stores now
! make a specially of home furnishings
| and artistic women are in the habit OF
! visiting the rooms of the model
| houses, which are arranged in the
| stores. for the latest wrinkles IN ORA
/ perry and the arrangement OF IurRl-
ture- Some stores make specially OF
! arranging special exhibits of this KIND
/ and sometimes invitations are issued
| to customers to attend a special open
! ing Of these rooms.
/ Sometimes a wedding OF a bail is ar
ranged in these model rooms, at which
attending customers get q view, not
| only of the decorations and furnish
! ings of q fashionable house during an
! elaborate entertainment, but also OF
I the costumes worn. The furnishings
I of these model rooms are changed ire
z quently and are full of suggestions of
n new articles to be purchased and diff
| ferent uses to which articles already in
! the home may be put
Music and Art.
One may spend several days in a
! model department store without eX-
! haustiug its possibilities for comfort
] and amusement Are you fond Of mu-
I siC2 Then YOU should attend the con-
certs which are given almost daily in
the great concert hall at which distin-
guished artists are often engaged to
delight the audiences, who pay no rec
I for the treat provided The choicest
| musical intruments are I'm demOnstra-
tiOn and music lovers spend hours OF
delight listening to them.
/ Upon the next floor there may be an
! exhibition of fine pictures. many OF
them from the salons and academies OF
Europe Frequently the collection eX-
hibited will aggregate hundreds OF
thousands of dollars i'm value. Noted
pictures are frequently leased by the
firms and arranged with specially good
lighting facilities for the benefit OF
the visitors TO the store. 1t is not
unusual for a store to run program
of moving pictures during a part OF
/ the day as means of contributing "a
! the pleasure of its customers.
In addition to these, there are eX-
/ hibItiOns of divers sorts which are con-
stantly being changed. Sometimes
thousands Of dollars worth of antique
rugs will be grouped in one room
4 properly tagged to enable visitors to
! inspect them closely and thus become
| familiar with the characteristics of the
! different kinds of rugs. At most eN-
hibits of this kind. a lecturer is in at
: tendance describing the manner in
| which the rugs are manufactured and
the various kinds of materials used
/ In a number of instances native rus
weavers from the Orient have been