Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-01-07

- o YOUR shopping in person, pay cash and carry
| ] home your purchase yourself. This is the au
- vice frequently given the American woman as a
means of reducing high of living 1t is point
ed out that the credit systems and extern
sive delivery service. which the American puDllc ue
mands is one the most important causes Oh hlsh
prices and typical example of our national eXtra'd-
ganCe.
mists she is compelled do by the management OF a
certain chain of drygoods THESE stores sell
only spot deliver nothing Yet they sue
cessfully compete with the single stores 80 ms
credit and delivery service because theH
methods and large buying power enable them to sell
goods at lower prices.
This chain consists of seventy stores, mostly in
small towns Each of them has manager and -FOUR
assistants None of pays rental of more than
500 a month These stores do business at cost OF
from 10 to 10 per of their total sales which is
extremely the usual cost for drygoods stores be-
ing about from IA to II per cent The manager OF
each Of these is made the owner of oneSthird
stock and he also has the privilege OF investing
in other stores of chain of the managers be-
ing interested in as many dozen. The promising
emplove who wishes to make a small investment,
be advanced the money the central office per-
sonal loan In this way the element Of personal in
teres the which is the chief disadvantage of
chain stores, is infused into the system
The buying for this is done by six COM
mittees each consisting of chief buyer and five as
sistants. These go to New York once year and
buy several million dollars worth of goods in few
days. always paying cash for it, Naturally they get
every discount given for cash and quantity. These
spend very little money window displays, and
advertising is carefully planned ana
systematized. The chain has grown from single
store founded 1902 This chain is highly typical of
the system which gained tremendous proportions
in the last thirty years
The value of chain stores a community is a mat
ter controversy. On the one hand the best
chain stores give the consumer efficient
and economical service of their superior
ganzaton buying facilities Critics of the chain
system point out however that being owned out
side of the communities where they located, they
take away money which would otherwise remain at
home also criticised for pricecuttng
especially nationally advertised and standard goods
evil, however is not inherent in the system and
can be remeded by proper legislation.
The important fact to be noted however is that
chain represent the incurson of big business
into the retail field. They the modern tendency
toward organization and cooperation applied to store
keeping. They numerous, prosperous and ncreas-
ing. Therefore, 1t is important that the consumer
should understand them both buyer and citi-
The most reliable estimates place the number of
chain systems in the United States about 1000
aggregatng than $4,000 separate stores. They
include grocery fiveandten-cent tobacco. drug. saoe
hat, confectionery, jewery, meats dairy products,
liquors, furniture, clothing. hardware automobiles
corsets. flowers, books and many other~things.
These stores fall into three classes:\ Retailers,
jobbers' and manufacturers' chains.
Retailers chains have sometimes been formed by
a gradual extension, a who made a in
town setting store in another. In few
stances, retail corporations been the
purpose Of establishing chains In other cases the
chains cooperative, number of retailers forming
a corporation All Of these combinations have been
formed because of the increased buying ef-