Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-10-12
TELLS AID CLUB MERCHANTS
CAN ASSURE Buying At HOME

motive. After we have the goods, do
not be afraid to tell the people so.
We cannot all do this in the same
way, but we will not accomplish any
thing by setting by and saying it is
q shame.
Issue catalogues, il necessary. Main
land houses have found it absolutely
necessary to do this TO retain and
get their share of the business.
Cheap as Mainland. .... ..
We also need to convince people
that whether they purchase any
article in San Francisco, Chicago, or
New York, they get just what they
pay for. Under present conditions, |
believe that the. Honolulu merchant
can sell the same class of goods. as
cheaply as the merchant anywhere
on the mainland.
AS / stated before, have seen my
own goods advertised in catalogue
houses for less money than j paid for
them In four instances ] had people
order them, and in each case the re-
ply came back: I'VE are very sorry
we are out, but have machine which
we would like to send you on approx
al that we have manufactured under
our own name. 1t is really better and
costs you less money"
Direct Contact.
In our business We overcome the
catalogue competition by coming di-
rectly in contact with prospective
purchasers Where this is possible
this is unquestionably the better way.
However, We readily concede in many
lines Of business this can not be done,
and would then recommend that We
fight them with. their, own ammuni-
ton. Our merchants can not, of
course, issue catalogues as the large
houses in the States do. You can,
however, supply the people with in
teresting, spicy advertising. .a;
For those OF you who are skeptical
and think catalogues have no COM
mercial value, / simply say look up
the financial standing of catalogue
houses.
Sending Money Away. st. spy. !,
There is another class of people in
our city and Territory which send
their money away, and they are the
families of some of our business men.
Since being in Honolulu ! have known
several families personally who buy
most of their dry goods on the main
land. .f.
Fort Street Merchant. .a..
trust you will pardon personal
reference, but / want to tell you of
an incident which happened in my
place of business. A prominent Fort
street business man came in one day,
and it happened to be my good for
tune to wait upon him. In due time
he purchased a. machine. The next
day he came back and asked the.
price Of motors We informed him
that our regular price was $40, but
when we installed them with new
machines we charged $3.50. 1 might
say that this motor installed costs us
$3.50, so at 800 we would only be
making fair profit. f..M.,.. !
However, after some hesitation, he
said he would advise us further the
next day. He returned the next
morning and said that he would not,
take the motor, as we wanted too
much for it. He would buy it in Chi
cago for $14.65. We could not resist, /
the temptation to tell him by all
means to order the motor from Chi
cago, as Le was making his living of
the Chicago people. &c.,
That is an extreme case, but that
spirit prevails very largely in Homo
lulu, and hope to see it eradicated
through the efforts of the Honolulu
Ad Club. ..
All Are Interested.
We will go a little further, and say
that this question of catalogues is not
confined to merchants alone, but is
one in which real estate men and
brokers' should be vitality interested. |