The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1916-01-13
OUTLOOK FOR YEAR IS GOOD
Kenosha One of Thousands of Places in
Which Tests Were Made But All Over
the Country the Report Shows
Awakened Business Conditions.

Retail sales by leading merchants IN
Kenosha in six representative lines of
business showed an average increase
Of eighteen per cent, in November,
1915, over November, 1914. This inn
proved condition of business is re-
vealed by the second annual merchan-
dising research report Of the Associat-
ed Advertising Clubs of the World
which has just been received here.
Department store sales made gain
of twenty-five per cent and clothing
store sales gain of twenty-three per
cent Jewelry stores made a gain of
thirty-four per cent in sales, while the
gain in jewelry advertising was only
four per cent. The increase in jewel
ry sales is regarded as particularly
significant and indicative of prosper
GUS business conditions, as people gen.
orally buy Injuries only when prosper
GUS There was a general increase in
advertising and it is of special inter
est that q gain Of five per cent in de-
partment store advertising resulted in
the gain of twenty-five per cent store
sales Kenosha was selected by the
research committee as one of the mar
keting centers of the country and in
formation obtained from local mer-
chants is embraced in this comprehen-
sive report.
Encouraging increases in sales in all
lines investigated were reported prac-
tically everywhere in the United
States and the average increase over
1914 in business in all the thousands
of stores that participated was shown
to have been 1898 per cent. Business
conditions in 1915 as compared with
those in 1914 following the outbreak
of the European war were decided
" improved.
No less than one thousand investi-
gators called upon and interviewed
merchants in leading marketing CEN
tiers. In each city at least three repre-
sentative merchants in each of the six
lines investigated were interviewed.
Assurance was given that names of
individuals or firms would not appear
in the report, the object being to pre-
sent only figures showing percentages
of increase or decrease.
The Investigations were made by
commercial club secretaries and mem
bers Of local advertising clubs, under
the general direction Of Mac Martin,
of Minneapolis.
Sales, local advertising, collections
and the amount of stocks carried by
merchants in November, 1915, were
compared with those of November,
1914, and November 1913, to get the
facts for the research report. Bust
ness experts concede that Has is No
vember, so is the years business in
retailing" and November is recog-
nized as an index month in the bust
ness world.
The frequency with which the inves-
tigation showed that sales rise as adj
vertising is increased in community
that increased sales and increased
advertising go hand in hands an
interesting feature of the report An
average increase of 2.5 per cent in
local advertising throughout the
country is disclosed. Retailers in
creased the stocks they are carrying
4S1 per cent.
Satisfactory increases in jewelry
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 buy
ing luxuries, which is taken as GER
tain indication of good business, for
necessities naturally come first and
Injuries afterward.
One of the chief purposes of the re-
port is to enable sales managers, ad-
vertising managers, credit men, bank
ers and retailers to plan their bust
ness campaigns for 1916 more effec-
lively 1t is pointed out that retailers
by comparing the figures in the re-
port with their own sales, collections
and stocks, will be able to determine
what standards to set for 1916 and to
compare their own sales, increases, adj
vertlslng increases and collection con-
ditions with other lines in their own
and other sections of the country.
With the thought of bringing the in
formation which the report contains
it embraces nearly sixty maps and
charts-to all business men and thus
to spread the information over as wide
a field as possible, extra numbers of
the magazine have been found in per-
manent form and are to be supplied
to business men at one dollar each
Requests for bound copies should be
addressed to Associated Advertising
80S Merchants Bank Building, Indiana
Rolisa Indiana.