Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1913-07-24
Advertising
Talks
THE BIGGEST JOB
OF THE MERCHANT

10 to get customers into his store.
Outside RACES the great fight OF COM
petitIon-ths appeal Of a hundred
competitors shouting for BUSINESSMAN
appeal which must be fought with ev.
cry businessgetting weapon available,
every trick Of knowledge and expert
snce.-M. J. Bailey, In Business.
Not 30 very long ago. there was
haberdasher In an eastern town.
whose store occupied an enviable po-
sition on the main street OF his city.
Just three doors above him was MIS-
strongest competitor Both OF them
handled similar lines. and fought for
the same class OF business. After
year of fighting with advertising cir
cularizing. and window displays, the
haberdasher discovered he was grad
ually losing ground. His competitor
was forging ahead; and, ponder as he
might, he was unable to locate the
cause.
The haberdasher in question was a
man OF considerable experience. and
through his education In that school
he had cultivated knack OF fusing
theory with practicability. He com
pared prices, selling force. and ad-
vertising and display. And yet, In all
he scrutinized there was no cause for
the shifting OF business from his store
to the one three doors away.
One day, he walked across the pave
ment and stood at the curb, to view
an attractive window display he had
Just completed. A moment later, he
strolled up the street. to compare his
window with that Of his competitor.
1t occurred to him during the COM
parison that although his display In
the abstract was as good as II not
better than his competitors. 1t was
altogether lacking In a pulling force
which appealed strongly to the
passers-by Then. like thunderbolt,
the cause of his loss OF business
flashed over him 1t was his entrance
Competitor had contrived an entrance
which through its clever arrangement.
invited q purchaser into his store. He
compared the two carefully, and his
faults stood out glaringly
He had a small showcase directly In
front OF his store, between his show
windows His competitor had none.
BY discarding this extra display, he
had obliterated what was in reality an
obstacle in the path OF prospect who
started to enter.
Point number two seemed even
more vital than point number one. His
store was one step above the pave
ment level, and his competitor had no
step. And again. these show windows
Of his competitor were not absolutely
square. They ran at an angel OF forty
degrees from either side OF the en-
trance, 30 display set to catch the
customers eye as he entered also did
more. This slanting show glass be-
came display In direct line OF vision
OF man walking up the street and
past the entrance. And finally, these
two sheets of glass extending outward
from his door gave direct invitation
to enter. while his straight projecting
extensions made his doorway seem
small
Altogether in those few moments OF
observation the haberdasher learned
many things. and he was not slow to
profit by them
A few weeks later, he began to re-
model his entrance along line that
would get customers into his store. He
eliminated the center showcase be-
tween his two windows OF display.
The shape OF his windows he changed
30 that the glass sides forming the
alley to his door might branch out
ward invitingly. He did away with
the one step to the flooring OF his
shop. by replacing 1t with an inclined
I'sne. He worked to make everything
about his entrance as inducing as pos
sibls and from his record OF Increased
sales since the alterations he has sue.
ceeded