The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1914-09-04
TELLS MERCHANTS. WHY
THEY SHOULD ADVARTISE
Advertising SpeCiaIat Tells Business Men
That Constant Use of NewSpa-
perS Surely Brings Results.

the home newspaper is bound to open
the way to better understanding be-
tween a merchant and the people
with whom he wants to do business"
declared James A. Wood, of Wood &
Reber, Seattle advertising specialists,
in an address before the Northwest
Merchants Convention in Seattle last
week. The use of the home news
paper is absolutely essential to any
sort of business success. The adver-
Using must be lively, up-to-date, and
changed as often as the paper comes
out. Don't kick at the newspaper
for failing to bring business if you
don't put drawing power into your ad,
or if you let it stand unchanged. A
stale ad suggests an element OF stale
ness in the advertiser. 1t will never
draw trade
Mr.. Woods talk went beyond the
necessity of advertising in the home
newspaper and pointed out to the big
gathering of Northwestern merchants
the importance of backing up their
advertising with personal service and
attention which would make friend
and steady customer Of every visitor
brought to the store through the ad-
vertising. IF a merchant merely
wants to get rid of his stock and get
his money out Of it, advertising can
be made to do practically all of the
work, said Wood. But if he wants
to build up business and attain any
degree Of permanent prosperity, he
and all his employees must take advan-
tage Of the opportunities that adver-
Using will bring to them. They must
make the store POPULAR place
where every desirable customer will
find pleasure in trading" The mer-
chants and the newspapers of the
smaller cities and towns make COM
mon cause against the mail order
house and incidentally against the
parcel post" said Mr.. Wood. The
mail order houses do a big business
and the parcel post has helped them
and other big mercantile establish
ments very materially. Criticism OF
the mail order business and the post
office department will not relieve the
situation; nor will it do much good
to roast the home folks who patronize
city houses and charge them with dis
loyalty to their town. What the
smaller city merchant must do is to
make better use of the space in his
home newspaper, and back up his adj
vertising with unceasing effort to
please. There is always a drift Of
retail trade from the smaller towns to
the nearest big city which cannot be
altogether prevented by any means at
the command Of the smaller town mer-
chant nor by the influence of the
home newspaper. But there is also a
great deal OF retail buying in big cit
les by people who actually do not
know that they could do as we'll at
home, or who do not realize that any
slight difference in prices is more
than absorbed by the cost Of the trip.
1t is only fair to defend such people
against the charge of disloyalty to
their home merchants and home in
situations so long as those merchants
and institutions fail to show their home
people what they have and what they
are for" In closing, he said: "A
retail merchant must advertise at
home intelligently and continuously,
and to get the full benefit Of his adj
vertising he must himself cultivate
pleasing personality into his advertis
ing and his business. He cannot get
along without advertising and he can't
be a crouch if he hopes to make head
way against any sort of competition at
home or elsewhere"
Mrs. E. F. Steffens, who left here
several months ago on a visit to her
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