The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-21
LYNCHBURG'S GAIN
AS BIG SHOE MARKET

About fifteen years ago Iynchburg in
augurated her first general publicity
campaign of advertising. which was SO
bold. SO unique and aggressive that 1t
both surprised and startled the mer-
chants and manufacturers in other south
ern cities. While Lynchburg had been
doing some jobbing business for several
Years, she was little known as a dis
tributing point outside of limited and
restricted territory. but her merchants
and manufacturers followed up this cam
paisn by sending their statesmen into
new territories. and soon I.ynchburg was
recognized as one of the largest distrib-
utins points in the south
This advertising campaign was the re-
suit of set-together movement. Manu-
facturers and jobbers in all lines got to-
gether and contributed to this general
fund. which was used in advertising
Lynchhurg as great distributing point.
and the results of this campaign were
immediate, and in some respects phe-
notnenal, and now the shoe industry of
Lynehburg has commenced a similar but
larger and more effective advertising
campaign.
The growth of the shoe industry of
Lynehburg has been so marvellous that
the mere statement of facts concerning
this industry makes these advertisements
extremely interesting to every wearer of
shoes, and especially interesting to the
merchants of the south, who. of course,
knew OF Lynchburg as a shoe market.
but who have not kept up with its won
derful progress and growth IN this line.
For example, few people in the south
realize that Iynchburg, known princi-
n t,fa 4NI,o nr1ra
distributes more shoes than Baltimore,
Philadelphia, New York and many other
cries of twenty times its population, ard
the southern people especially will be
surprised to learn that Lynchhurg dis
tributes more shoes than hundred and
fifty cities in this country with more
lliaG twice its population.
TO those who ina gined thai Lynen5urg
WAS dependent upon tobacco. the state
ment in these advertisements thai one
out of five persons, men, womea and
children. in Lynchburg are dependent
upon the shoe Industry will come as q
surprise. 1t could hardly be believed
that in the manufacture of mems fine
shoes Lynchburg has shown an Increase
Iof over 20o9 per cent from 1899 to 1919
had these figures rot been quoted IN these
advertisements as coming from the gov
eminent census report. and had some
Iynchburger made the statement that
the wholesale shoe business which was
begun in Lynchburg in 1876 with one con-
Germ and only amounted to half a million
dollars in 1888 had in ten years grown to
two and half million, and in twenty
three years to more than eleven million
dollars, you might not believe it, but
when this statement is quoted as coming
from the National Shoe Wholesalers
Association Monthly Bulletin. it leaves
no room for doubt.
These advertisements prove that facts
are stranger and more startling than fic-
ton Twenty-three years ago Lynchburg
had one wholesale shoe house with three
statesmen. while the latter part of last
month more than two hundred shoe
statesmen left Lynchburg with twenty
carloads of shoe sampled These sales
men took away from Lynchburg a thous-
and sample trunks containing more than
2O0p00 samples of Lynchburg shoes While
of course, a great many of the merchants
of the south know that Lynchburg is
quite a large shoe market, who would
have thought that it's shipments of shoes
for single month were sufficient to tax
the capacity of J a freight train three
miles long? These are some of the facts
set forth in these uiliqiie. attractive and
striking advertisements. and the mer-
chants and manufacturers in all SOUTH
ern cities should learn lesson from this
advertising campaign. II these state.
ments strike you as interesting and in
some respects startling. if they open your
eyes and impress upon you Lynchburg's
wonderful growth in this particular in
dustry. doesn't it oceilr to you that Bir-
mingham and other southern cities have
some industry which should be exploited
in the same manner? This cooperative
general publicity shoe campaign should
be an object lesson to merchants and
manufacturers of every southern city.