Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1916-03-17
TRADE AT HOME

mated spring catalog. 1t contains
over 900 pages, illustrated to a fin
ish, showing an engraving of every
possible commodity from safety pins
! to circus tents, and containing lists
of bargains which would save enough
money in the aggregate, if one was
to purchase all of them, to make plu-
| tocrats of every poOr-hOuse inmate in
| the nation. 1t is a well-edited docu-
ment, and as near as We can make
out, it is designed to sell the goods
did not request it, or even furnish
our name to have it sent to us, we
must presume that it is being sent
to others in the same free-handed
manner. 1t is costly publication,
and we learn from other sources
that the firm it represents sent out
over ten million copies of these una
bridged bargain lists, last year, the
total cost of which must have
amounted to millions of dollars.
Some of the so-called bargains, how
ever, are so in name only. How
many of them, we do not know. But
in many instances saving can be
made by purchasing of our home
merchants The success of these
mail-Order houses is phenomenal, not
withstanding their advertising ex-
pense. One of them did business
of $110,0 100000 last year, and made a
net profit of II per cent on its sales.
Every dollar of that trade was taken
from towns like our own, and to the
detriment of such towns. But when
all is said every dollar of trade the
mail order houses get is from their
advertising. If they did not adver-
tise on such a broad scale they
would have to go out of business IN
six months. They believe in adver-
petition with merchants who believe
that "advertising does not pay"
Their steadily increasing business,
with consequent loss to local meT
chants the country over, would in
dictate that they have the best of the
argument and that advertising does
pay. In this fight for trade too
many of the local merchants have
been content to feebly protest
against people sending away for
merchandise without doing more. In
tho face of such competition such
protests are useless. The thing to
do is to show people that it pays to
trade at home, to convince them that
the bargains are close at hand and
not in the far-aWay land There is
not a merchant anywhere who can
not show list of good bargains ev
cry month, as we'll as reasonable
prices on his goods at all times. And
every such merchant can get his adj
vertising at One-tenth the cost of
the catalog house. At the lowest
estimate the house which sent us it's
catalog must spend five per cent
Of it's sales in advertising. If every
merchant in this city would spend
one-half OF one per cent for adver-
Using the local newspapers would
have to double the size Of their
publications. to carry it. If they
would spend even one-half of that
amount they would stop two-thirds Of
the mail order business in their ter
ritory. advertising pays and the
only reason there are SO many big
mail order houses is because they
recognize that fact. They go after
business, while the local merchant
is content to let it come to him in
whatever volume it may. If there is
merchant in town who wants some
Of the cream from this $110, 100000
business, all he has got to do is to
go after it with printers ink. There
is not a merchant in the city who
has failed to make advertising pay
whenever he has tried it, and his
own experience points the way to
further success along the same line.
jackson County Journal