Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-12-18
wake Up, You Merchants


the shoppers were noticed q number Of
Atlantic City residents vino bore bum
dies in evidence of their having made
purchases.
Why were our people there?
The question is one 20 vital to At
lantic City merchants that 1t must be
answered If the "buy at home" PROPOSE
ton is TO become something more than
an empty suggestion.
The sooner Atlantic City shopkeepers
awaken to the seriousness Of this situa-
ton the sooner will their profits
increase. Why not get down to busi-
ness and look the facts in the face.
Slogans q mile long will not bring
patrons to local shops until the present
"fool's paradise" Is abandoned for prac-
tical competition with shrewd, ener-
getic merchant princes Of wide awake
cities. The Philadelphia stores adver-
tise. They do not use q few inches Of
space in which the stores name oc-
cupies the bulk of the advertisement,
but they spread out before the public
q detailed description Of the goods they
carry with prices and all necessary in
formation.
There are many Philadelphians who
are cottagers here. Do they turn to
the full or halfpsge advertisements of
the big stores and mark 1t well, they
find what they are after. Years of
education in shopping has taught them
to expect to find it.
Suppose they turn to the local papers,
would they learn as much? Let any
sane merchant be honest with himself
and there can be but one answer.
With the exception of a slim half dozen
merchants the advertisements for shop
pers are sad ex positions. Who can
blame the public? They can outline
their needs on a postcard and the goods
are delivered at their doors. How
many local dealers make such an offer
plain in print?
There are in this city stores that are
literally packed with everything a pur-
chaser desires. Careful comparison has
shown the prices asked are as low or
lower than is asked in Philadelphia for
the same goods. Two of these stores
we have In mind do not advertise their
wares enough to sell a tin teakettle. II
1t were not for the big signs over the
doors the public would not remember
their existence; and here we are right
at the front door OF Christmas, the big.
gest shopping period Of the year.
Here is an actual oceurrenc involving
one OF the biggest, best stocked stores
on the avenue. The proprietor, after
having displayed the excellence of his
goods to two inquiries, was asked:
"And how is business?n The mer-
chant answered "rotten." Not a pref
ty term but embracing the situation In
q word.
When the qucstioners left the store
q private citizen remarked; ST don't
wonder. That fellow carries an adj
vertisement In the papers that looks
like a visiting card"
And there is the ssbuy at home' move-
ment. II the same store was In Read
ing, Pa, or in Trenton, N. J., or In
Newark, or any other city Of respectable
size, its contents would be heralded to
the public page or half page descrip-
lions. In Atlantic City the merchants
eeem to have the idea that all adver-
Using lie a sort of "holduph on the part
ofthe newspapers, and the less space
they employ the better they have cafe
guarded their bank accounts.
This is the policy Of the ostrich hiding
its head In the sand, leaving it's body
unprotected. The advertising rates in
this city are SO reasonable that they
offer wonderful opportunity for a shop
keeper. Do the local merchants sup
pose for a minute the big merchandise
houses of Philadelphia or New York
consider they have been ~"help-up" by
using the newspapers? Or that they
are merely comforting favors by buying
space In the dailies and weeklies Of the
cities? II that is SO, why do they go TO
outside journals for more publicity?
Common sense explains 1t. To create
interest in local stores attention must
be attracted to local stores. You can't
play the snail and expect traffic to come
to your shell. II the purchasing public
does not know Of the goods you carry,
what is the use of carrying them? This
''buy at home'' movement is entirely
too one sided. 1t is all guesswork for
the public and false economy by the
shopmen. 1t never has worked and it
will not york now. Shoppers will con-
tinue to 60 whefe they are catered to.
The Chamber of Commerce has taken
the first real step to arouse the store
owner from their Rip Van Wrinkle
-. - = GN-.s-. --s--z a.