The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1914-02-06
Bill BonRs Says!


country merchant, mail order
house, land values etc. AT the
same time announced that at la
ter time we would have something
TO say about the merchants aud
professional men and few things
that they could aud should do 10
help in making their town and
country better. To begin with the
small merchant, say, in towns the
size Of Pennington, should eucOur.
age aud help out small industries
that help bring more laborers to
the town. They should encourage
all kinds of manufacturing indus
tries to come. Then next the re-
tail man in the small town should
make it to the farmers interest to
trade at home. After all has been
said, the local retailer has a decided
advantage over the distant mail
order house. In this respect he
has the goods to show the customer;
can deliver them right now; can
back them with his own personal
guarantee. He should be JOHNNY
on the spot" to adjust any claim,
with a perfect knowledge of condi-
tons. Some retail dealers say,
that the farmer sends to the mail
order house because he would rath.
err send away from home to buy
goods than buy them at home
that the farmer buys by mail be-
cause he is pig headed enough TO
want to spite the local merchant.
This is not true to any great eX.
tent. The opinion of Bill Hanks
is, that if the local man would ad.
vertise just as persisteutly as the
mail order house he would have
less cause to complain. Where
the mail order man comes in for so
great a country business is, he is
everlasting and eternally at it
advertising. He keeps IA constant
flow of circular letters, catalogs
etc, going into the homes of
those that he would win as custom
ere. In addition he uses the big
farm papers most extensively in
advertising his wares. You can
scarcely take up II big farm paper
without finding big display nd Of
some of the larger mail order
houses. Something is put forward
as leader that the people really
want and even need, and the price
is close. Ia glowing terms the ad
vertlsing tells of how they can
make this unheard of offer. They
say that some eastern firm was
compelled to go out of business
and they have taken advantage of
the failure and bought up the
goods and now are Offering them
10 those that care to take advaut
age of the very low. price. Of
course it catches the folks. for it
sounds so good. Now Bill Hanks
thinks that if the local merchant
would make as strong Il bid for
trade as does his mail order com.
petitor, there would be very little
business leave the community and
60 to the mail order houses. The
average merchant gets up Il little
nd about every change of the sea
son when business is good,
and inserts it in his local paper.
Bill Hanks once heard of a mer-
chant when solicited for an ad byI
a newspaper man, remarked that
business was too dull. We gods,
certainly this merchant had not
yet learned his a, b c's about ad-
vertising. Ii advertising is of any
value at all, it ought to be used
the most extensively during the
duller seasons of the year to pro.
woke trade, and increase the BUSH
ness, keeping it up to the standard
at which il ought to run.
Too times Mr.. Merchant does
not advertise except at the time he
wishes to make disposition OF some
left over goods. His ad thus an
nouuced stands in very sad con-