The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-01-16
R|CHM0ND'S TRADE
INCREASE NOTEWORTHY
Exceeds the Average of the Country
AT Large BY More Than
Eight Per Cent
soME NOTEWORTHY STATISTICS
People Bought rs Per Gent More
| Clothing, II Per Gent More Grocer
| les and Increased Their Outlays in
Other Directions During 1918.
Richmond is prosperous.

of business Ia November. 1915, over No
vember, 1914. Richmond exceeded tho
average increase IN retail sales for the
entire United States by more than y
per cent. This Improvement in foea!
business conditions is revealed by the
second annual merchandising resear h
report Of the Associated Advertistus
Clubs OF the World which has just
been received here.
Ciothters sales increased IS per cent,
department store sales, ~ per cent,
grocery sales, 81 per cent; hardware
sales, Ia per cent and tevelry sales.
% per cent. The increase in ieweirH
sales is regarded as particularly GIG
nificaut and indicative Of prosperous
business conditions as people generally
buy Injuries only when they are pros
porous Richmond was selected by the
research committee as one of the mar
kttins CenterS of the United states AID
Information obtained from local utef.
chants is included in TINS comp en@u,
sife report
Consumer demand ia 1915 as .nd'-
Gated by retail sales throu- hcu- me
United States Increased appfo>iBafelt
10 per cent over 1914 and ccdct tiauT
Improved materially. ACCORDING 20 the
second annual report Of the merch No.
dislnE research com mittce Of the As
World which has Just been received
here 10 the. January number ~ Associ-
atef Advertising. tho monthly maya
zine published by the Associated Adj
Rertts.ng clubs. In compiling the re-
port November was taken rs an indsA
month - business conditions
The investigation touched nearly zoe
leading marke: ceaters 3U every psrt
OF the Uuited States and in a numh.3
Of Canadian cities, covering stores sell
ing both Injuries aud necessities
fsr@Eefs jewelers.. TfrpyTtr7rrr'+ -ett'r--
owners. hardware dea lers clothieEs ana
druggists, represeptFf,g the stN ltars o.
business Investigated. Willingly opened
their books 10 the hundreds 81 inVes~
ttgator& who interviewed them
0ne Thousand Investigators.
ENCOURAGING increases in sales .n all
lines investigated were reported prac-
tically everywhere in the United States
and the average increase over 1913
IN business in all the thousands ct
stores that participated was shown to
have been 1913 per cent business
conditions in 1915 as compared wtth
those ia 1919 following the "pthrea.
Of the European war were decided IS
improved
No less than l.ooa investiSatars
s,afi4d Npc,4g ard interviewed merchants
in leading marketing centers. In ea~h
city AT least three represrn tatiXe mo.
ehants In each Of the six lines inyez.1
gated were interviewed. Assurauc,
WAS given that names OF individuals
-.,s-f firms s's3d not appear in the lie
port. the ob3ec, being 10 present oHly
agures showing percentages Of in-
crease or decrease.
The Investigations were made -
commercial club secretaries aud mem
beers Of local advertising clubs unaer
tho general direction OF Ma NayIin,
81 Minneapolis
sales. local advertising. COLLECTIONS
and the amount OF stocks carried b$
merchants ju November. 1915, were
compared with thos. Of November f"lA,
and Non etme~ 1878, 80 set Tho facts
fog the research rel OFT Business oN-
perts eoucede that "as Is November,
s,t is the years business In rtiAllin-.
and November IS recognized As ar iA-
dex -,AaRih IN the business world.
The frequency with whjoh the tp~
vesffgatiop showed that sales rise aS
advertising is increased In commu-
nity-that Increased sales ana ihtft.1s'
ed adNertfsirE x" hand IN lands
an interesting feature OF th, report
Az average increase az - per ccnf IN
local advertising throughout the cum
try is disclosed. Retailers liner 'ascd
the stocks they are carryin& 4.sl per
cent.
Satisfactory increases in jeweirv
sales were reported in practically every
city, the average jewelry sales for the
country being 1879 per cent higher than
those in 1914. This shows that people
everywhere are buying luAuries. which
is taken as certain indication of
good business. for necessities naturally
come FIRST and luxuries afterwRrd.
An interesting fact which the report
atvuleex Is thai while the jewelers.
H:4es Increased more, proportionately,
than those OF the grocer, the groee.'.
: "a rule. collects what is due him with
mut n greater ease than any other kind
81 merchant
Collections Above Normal.
In addition TO the fact that con
sauar demand---retail sales-showed
healthy Increase. collections also were
better. the average for the whole coun-
fry being SO points above normal "A"
,o,nDared with 1914. The point sys
tenn of scoring collections. as used IN
the repurt consists of assigning 40
,,ai,,ts for "A report Of poor collections,
SO points for report of normal col
lections and 80 points for a report Ut
GOOD collections The reports OF Ike
retailers are thus given numerical
value for the purpose or tahulation anG
averages.
Figure. show Actual Gains.
The following table shows averaE"
narcantages OF increase in sales and
advertising in the United States ~
the six lines OF business investigated:
The fgures under collections indicate
the number of points collections are
above normal as reported by the n1eF-
chants;
Department Sales AoN 'cl.'
stores 10 IA 81
Grocery
stores IS o. y"
Clothing
Stores .-.. 1EP i'"t ~
Hardware