The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-03-20
MODERN MERCHANDISING
LECTURE BY AN EXPERT

We had our meeting Friday night
and there was splendid tournout;
something over three hundred people
attended, and they were all very
much interested in Mr.. Parlin's ad-
dress Our big merchants turned out
in great shape, and in addition there
were large number of department
heads and employees. The attendance
was very pleasing to me for me have
never been particularly successful in
getting our people out to hear speak
ers -
The above quotation from letter
written by G. +. COLLISION, secretary
of the Retail Association of the Den
yer Chamber of Commerce, refers to
few months ago by DR.. Chas. Coo
| lidge Parlin, director of the Bureau
of Commercial Research of the Cur
tbs Publishing Co. DR.. Parlin has
| consented to make a similar speech
to the business men of Lakeland in
! the Aerdome on Monday, March 81,
! at o'clock The Chamber of Com
merce cordially invites every manu-
| facturer, merchant, as well as all
other business men of the city to be
present. There will be no admission
fee and all citizens of Lakeland will
| be cordially welcomed
The bureau of which Dr. Parlin is
the head, recently conducted an ex-
| haustive inquiry into the field OF food
products After this concluded, Mr..
Parlin summed up the findings in an
address before the advertising club
of New York City. The following eX-
tracts from his talk will give local
, people an idea of the treat that is
in store for those of them who hear
MIR. Parlin while he is in Jackson
Vile.
In the opening, he spoke of the
! industry AS being really great az.
aregation oF many lines, and called
attention to the fact that the re-
search literature as to this filled sew
eral large volumes.
Speaking with special reference
to certain points, he said that he ex-
pected that within five years there
would be a 80 per cent increase in
the sale OF oranges and raisins and
a still greater advance in respect to
the output of apples for the north
west Articles of utility, he said
tended toward monopoly-that is, tc
) decreasing the number of producers;
while in the case of style goods
the opposite was found to be true
Food products followed the utility
: characteristics.
: 1T has been argued that as thu
2 influence of advertising tended t.
e make some successful while Others
4 failed, the final result might be bu
S that one great producing concern
l. could survive, which would not neet
: to advertise, and that thus advertis
ing would be put out of existence be
cause of its very success Mr.. Par
lin showed that this could never be
5 and that, in practice. advertising
IL most effective check upon monor
IL oily.
! Attention was directed to the sir
u gular fact that in great many cite
u the total department store bushes
{ very closely Appropriated the grot
cry jobbing business in volume
. Grocery jobbing seems to depend fC
Il its success far more on economic SUI
roundings than on individual effoI
or ability.
- Grocery chain stores fill the pu'
y lie imagination, but figures sho
u that they do less than per cent
~ the grocery business. There is col
slant oyer-estimate of the impo
ance of big stores 1t is the sma
stores that, in the aggregate, do f
the most of the business. The enti
grocery business is revolving itse
into order-taking-into treating &
:. customer so we'll that he Tor sh
= will come again, and keep on col
=, ing. The retailer will sell anybod.
brand that his trade will buy, al
has no time to push any speci
;. brand to the exclusion of others.
>. rAfter all, the consumer is the b
:, controlling factor. Get him with yo
= and you're winner"
&c DR.. Parlin will deliver an addr'
90 to the merchants and business m
h. of Lakeland on Modern Mercha
;. dizing' Monday, March 81.
a. charge will be made for the lectur
The Publicity Bureau of the Cha
-, Der of Commerce. which has the m;
ter in hand, has been assured a go
attendance on the occasion.
|