Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1915-08-19
LOCAL MERCHANTS VERSUS MAIL
ORDER HOUSES.


the mail order houses of the larger
cities undersell the merchants of the I
smaller towns! In other words, does {
the customer realize more from his dol
lar if spent with the 5. r. Co. of Spo- !
kane or Portland than he does if he
spends it with the S. & h. Co. of White
Bird or the A. & +. Co. of GrangevilleY
There is certainly no denying the facts
that the mail order business of Idaho
county is tremendously large; nor ignor-
ing the further fact that the business
| is constantly on the increase
There is scarcely household in the
entire country in which investigation
will not disclose from one to half
dozen illustrated catalogs of the various
mail order houses scattered all the way
from Seattle to the Atlantic sea board.
A government inspector who makes the
rounds of the Idaho county post offices
in given territory told us recently that
out of 125 money orders issued from
one of the smaller offices within GER
tain quarter 104 of those money orders
were made out in favor of Seattle
mail order firm.
i In a certain rural community which
we recently visited we were astonished
to find that not more than one out of
five of the families were patronizing
the home merchants. To be sure most
II. al Ilnfl nf
indefinite standing were trading at
home but those who paid cash for their
commodities were sending their money
, to Spokane, Portland, Seattle and every
where else in America.
! Now it is certainly the prerogative
} of every man to invest his money in the
/ direction that will bring him the largest
, returns as respects not only quantity
but quality also. For any one to pirate
continually about depending your
: money at home' and excepting your
$ money in the country simply to en-
courage Local commercial enterprises
: when the local merchant may be hold
a ing you up is the height of absuridity
q And we affirm without the slightest re.
/ servation of fear of censure better
a deal than he can get at home by all
g means it is his duty to patronize them
But the question we contend has never
been definitely nor logically disposed
of. Conclusions we believe have beer
g jumped at. The psychological conta
G gion of one housewife displaying
" cheap pair of slippers to one OF he
3 neighbors has been caught and takei
p up to such an extent that the mail orde
e, business has become a 'craze' of tn
lie times A slight but painstaking IN
il vestigation will show the eatalog hous
e proposition up as myth and buga
IN boo As we write there lies before us
I'd dozen catalogs-borrowed for tn
1T occasion-representin practically ever
IS catalog house in the Pacific Northwes
ne On the pages of these books one ca
ne find anything listed from a paper {
he pins to threshing engine. compar
he son of prices contained in them
ne against the prices of the local mercl
elk ants will disclose some startling fact
a For example, case of carnation crea
containing 4S ems retails in Grangevli
ed at $425. The same case of crea
he bought in Spokane costs the custom
to 1915. Add to these figures fifty-fo
at cents postage, plus five cents for
no money order; plus a two cent stamp al
nth stationary; plus the time, trouble a
delay it takes to get it from Spokar
and where do you come out? We 81
nit that you are exactly thirteen Ger
eN' to the bad, besides other deficits tn
no. cannot be measured in dollars and cen
IN Take another item. A certain popu
mail order house advertises its b'
eh' sugar at $3.50 per 100 lb. sack. Sus
iho of superior quality we believe can
en- bought at home for little more tn
the IS per sack, and the majority of m
chants discount 5 per cent for ca
|. Now add sixty-five cents for posta
etc. to your mail order sugar, I'll
deduct the forty cents from the So S;
of sugar your local merchant sold
and contrast the differenc. The I
/ ference simply is that your local n
chant has given you better deal
the margin of five cents than your n
order house. And say, does it cost
thing for the local merchant to opel
his place businessi Is there any
penditures for clerk hire, rents
other indispensablesf And is it W.
i anything to the community to. hav
. general merchandise store in its mi
. And say do not most folks like to
and handle the stuff they are goini
buyi We have seen woman custo
before now go into a local store f
yard or two of fabrics, and before