The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07
EGG DEALERS ARE
EAGER TO EXPLAIN
PRESENT HIGH PRICE
Claim Margin of Profit for
Them Is Close to Dan
ger0us Point
SOME REDUCTION
is EXPECTED SOON
Both Wholesalers and Retailers Are
interviewed to Show Where Eggs
Are Secured and Prices
Paid for Them
BY ELLIS c. HoILI1Ms

III hbLAS - hOLLUMS
1t seems that all wholesale dealers in
eggs do not agree as to the price which
shall be charged to the public. In yes-
terday mornings Age-Herald the quota
ton on eggs was made to read SSc. which
is the highest price given on this COM
modify this year. But Hal ]. Copeland, a
south Twentieth street retailer, saw the
quotation, and Immediately began to won
der why he was paying 421a cents If the
quotation was only 3S cents
Mr.. Copeland issued a statement in
which he stated that his customers had
Seen the 3S cents quotation In The Age
Herald, and that it was hurting his busi-
ness. He is selling his eggs to the trade
at 40 cents dozen and pays the whole
saler 421A cents, he says. This would hard
ly leave him a reasonable profit, but
his customers fail to see his point of
view and continue to.complain. Mr.. Cope
land said that he bought only strictly
fresh eggs that had never been in stor-
age. He buys most of his eggs from s.
l.. Sheriff. of Hartselle who, Mr.. Cope
land says, guarantees every one of them.
AT times he buys from Franklin, stiles &.
FRANKLIN, wholesale grocers, and the price
is always 42lA cents. Mr.. Copeland saws
that the demand for the eggs he sells is
always keen, but that some of his GUS
toners had got an idea that he was rob-
ping them or else making false state
ments as to the price he paid for his eggs.
He showed the writer several invoices on
which he was charged from 40 to 421h cents
a dozen for eggs. Paying such a price for
eggs, 1t would be easy to suppose that
Mr. Copeland would not be robbing his
customers If he charged them 80 cents
instead of 45 cents dozen. This would
leave him very small margin of profit,
after deducting percentage for losses
and breakage.
Attitude of Wholesalers
The wholesalers part of the story is
that Mr.. Copeland is right in his com
plant of his customers kicks. They
assert that he would be justified in charg-
ing 80 cents a dozen for eggs F. W.
Blackford of the Donovan Provision COM
pany says that his firm sells it's eggs,
strictly fresh, at 80 cents a dozen. He
stated that he paid from So to SO cents
dozen and sold the eggs at 3S cents, as
being the lowest price on which he could
make any profit. This firm buys it's eggs
In carload lots and for this reason al
ways gets the very lowest price, In fig
uring the price at which to sell eggs to
the retailer, the wholesale men have to
account for losses and breakage. After
the retailer gets the eggs he too, has to
figure on the losses and breakage before
fixing the price to the consumer And
when the wholesaler places the price at 2
cents above what he is paying he Is
shaving his profit very close. 1t is the
same with the retailer
Mr.. Blackfords statement about Mr..
Copeland's complaint about the 3S-cent
quotation is as follows: I'VE call the mar
ket 3S cents in large wholesale lots, and
that is as low as we can sell them. These
eggs are costing us from IS to 36 cents
and cents a dozen is low as they
can be handled. In our opinion, consid-
erng the unavoidable loss and breakage
which the retailer has in handling eggs, !
don't believe so cents a dozen for fancy
graded eggs is an exorbitant price for the
dealer to ask"
Mr.. Blackford's position seems entirely
tenable, because he buys his eggs at sc
cents. When he sells them at 3S he is
slkimming the edge of profit dangerously
close, for there is no small percentage
of loss to be figured on
Another Wholesalers View
Mr.. Stiles of the Franklin, Stiles &
Franklin Grocery company, has been sell
ing to Mr.. Copeland and his price is 421!
cents. His statement is as follows: 1--WE
are handling strictly fresh Tennessee eggs
that have never been in cold storage and
are getting 421s cents a dozen for them
Even at this price we are selling to the
trade on very close margin of profit. If
all our business was conducted on as
small a profit as we are now receiving
from eggs we would be forced to re-
tire; the receipts would be less than actual
operating expenses"
MIR. Stiles stated in support of the pres
ent price of eggs that Alabama eggs were
very scarce this year. He showed on his
books that the receipts of Alabama eggs
by his firm this year was rs per cent less
than that of last year. His company does
not deal extensively in eggs, and is not a
large factor in the egg market, but it is
the same throughout the wholesale dis
trict Alabama eggs are not to be had,
and that, of course, makes for higher
prices. Then, too, storage eggs are very
scarce.
The Fowlkes & Myatt Grocery company
buy their eggs from Hartsele, and occas-
ionally in Birmingham, paying 421s cents
a dozen for them delivered. This COM
pany sells to the consumer at 80 cents
dozen, and Perry Fowlkes said yester-
daV that the. profit was small at that, II