The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-03-11
LOCAL JOB8ER A
GROWING Faction
In Dry Goods He r. Doing Much -
the Work Which tho National
Ono Used to Do.

have taken place since the opcnine
especially in the last few years, II
! the rapid growth of the number Of
] local jobbers OF dry goods and thu
attendant centralizing of selling ac-d
tivties by many ~ the larger ones
/ A number of reasons are advanced
! for this. and it is said by men wh0
have given the lobber particular
thought that the drawing in Of
horns" by the larger ones is not ,due
to choice but necessity.
Nothing was said in talks with diff
ferent dry goods men which Timed
reporter had during the last week ~
indicate that the jobbcr is the factor
in the increased cost Of living, tist
some economists contend. Nothim&S
was said about the desira biiity N
eliminating him. on the other hand
il was argued that the iobber Oee
cupies a very important place in the
business world. and probably viii
continue TO do so for generations to-
come Proof OF this contention. n
/ vas asserted. lies in the fact that the
number of wholesalers is steadily tn-Sz
creasinr especially so in regfonA2
more remote from the big manufac-s
, East.
In the various comments made
about the position now held in. the
! dry goods world by the jobber. care;
was taken to eliminate certain big
and nationally known houses which,
| while they come under the General
head OF wholesalers, are really morss
in that they not only buy in large
/ lots and sell In smaller ones. hut
~. ~sssfEa
/ faCture - good part of the merchant
dse they handle These houses. III
was said by the very nature of thAix
! organiza tons. would doubtless con-
/ tinue to do business all over the
, country. So far as possible, al10sS
the speciality jobber was passed over
hat the opinion was reiterated thaks
tho knell of the general and strictss
/ y iobbine dry goods house as mss
tional distributing institution hans
been sounded. Nj
No better proof was cited In favor
of the contention expressed aN0v@
than the names OF several Eas4ex4E
dry goods jobbing concerns that hnk&s
gone out of business since 1900, fay44K
iy because they did not change tJD1.
selling methods in time. Among tn
cities in which these houses did bs1 ~
ness were included Phfiadefph1
Baltimore. and New York. &kl}s
further proof was advanced In tho
statement that acertain well-kaCWMs
house. which formerly did bualno1s
over wide territory, Is now ooS3~3
f1ning its operations almost entirely
TO this city and vicinity. New EnE@s
land, New Jersey. New York. Ohio
and Pennsylvania.
Again. it was pointed out thar
: where in the old days the ST Louin
iobbers got large part of their
bread and OUTER out of Texas, wnote-s
salers below Mason and Dixon's lins.
and in the state of Texas itself. are
now cutting the melon that formcrfys
vas divided very largely In Missouri,
still further. an instance was cited
. OF a large Southern concern, now out
OF business, that did rs per cent, a.
a 100000 to $4,000. 600 trade
west OF the Mississippi river. This
trade is now falling mostly to the
local" jobbers,
Changes in selling methods on thu
part OF certain general jobbers along
the Atlantic seaboard were also held
up as proving that the wise icbboe1
is localizing his business. In on6s
case, for instance, a Southern house
formerly had one man covering two
large states and a section Of a third
in that part of the country. Nor
that house is said to have three mem
working the biggest state aionn.S
| Where formerly tie one salesman
used to touch only the importarhs
cities and towns. the present ones ara
going into towns and villages taat
the traveller Of fifteen years ag0
would have considered too trining tA3
bother with. Increased competitions
has made necessary a kind of intefiS
sified cultivation of the retail Ae1d.S
The acreage" is being cut doNFHs
and efforts are being directed tx
making two orders grow where one
did before. M
/ Several reasons were also advanCGla
to show why IL has been neceso
for the average dry goods iohheAk41E
/ shorten his lines" Not the least OH
these is the very high cost of selling
TO retailers far from the home haa0B
in proportion to the amount OF bnStxs
ness that is received from theml*s
This expense Is not only due t. the
! scanty population IN various parts 90
the country. but also to the lack o&S
adequate transit facilities and the
wide territory that has to be 9osQGs
over to reach the population th0EQ3
lis The combined population Of tn&E
/ most Western states--Californi4
/ Idaho. Oregon, Nevada, and WashtneX
TOMS. for instance. only about eQuAx2
to that of Greater New York. Anx&
what makes it worse, from a se1f13xlE
point of view. is that the area &&|
the states in question totals nAaf4)
$40. 200 squa-e miles. This is d0u1f&5
I less one of the reasons for the exf14
ence of the general and speciAltxZ
jobbing houses that are located in tk45
bigger Pacific coast cities.
To the hand-to- mouth style o. RaX&3
ing which preceded the war. -
which is still INDUCED In to e6
tain extent in spite of the geuAS
scarcity of merchandise. il asct1h
the greatest influence in encour4H1
the growth of the local jobber
hampering the national distrfh0
When the retailers found some
ago that It was cheaper to buy ~
and often than to stock up tw1N6
year. it became necessary to-
some one who could sell In HI
quantities at any time they mta4(
wanted. .s.s. Naturally. the ,iobh4ESs
the person looked to. for many
manufacturers refused to sell
unless large orders were r.
This was especially true to mak1