Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-10-28

peduS ana Steel kIllNeb lOT tHe uiuSu
more valuable furs Of the Indians.
Barter, or retail trade, is the founda-
tion Of city building; without retail
trade, a city would die. 1t would die
in the incredibly short period Of two
or three days; it would cease to exist,
and that Chamber of Commerce which
does not have regard for the rtail
trade of the city as first response
bility, fails in its opportunity No
city, however, exists solely upon the
basis of retail trade, as we shall see.
Commendable Effort.
The retail trade of Tulsa is meas
ured entirely by the ability of its mer-
chants, thru cooperation, to develop
their normal trade territory inten-
sively. There has been some of the
most intelligent DEVELOPMENT of trade
territory under the Leadership of your
Chamber of Commerce here IN Tulsa
that lhave ever encountered. But
something must be wrong or with
such leadership and with such terri
tory else the stores of Tulsa would be
greater than they are.
The best way in the world to find
out what is the matter with the retail
trade Of the citv. is to 20 to the cities
that have taken its trade away from
it. Through one of those cities came
to Tulsa: | know its affairs well, l
am privileged to consult with its Of
ficals. And when see there great
number Of excellent furniture stores,
/ knew there could not be corre-
spending strength in that branch of
retail trade in Tulsa. l looked
through the departments of ready-to-
wear goods in another city in your
territory. They were too strong for
the normal trade territory of that city
alone. ! slept in a nearby city the
other night with a shoe drummer, for
that CITY. like Yourself. prefers to
have its visitors 90 to the houses of
the people rather than stay in the
hotel. Laughter and applause.) This
drummer was full of information for
me about Tulsa. He told me there
were five retail shoe establishments
here. all of which bought goods from
him representing retail prices of fif-
teen dollars the pair of shoes for
women that it was possible TO sell
here goods Of a higher grade than he
was able to sell anywhere else in this
part of the United States. but that he
could not sell MANY of them, and that
there was no shoe center here. All
of which is svmptomatic: all of which
reveals that one of the penalties of
our rapid growth is beginning to as
sert itself in the field of our retail
trade
Behind the City.
We are so busv taxing in the money
over the counter. that we are not TAX
ing time to organize to take it in most
profitablv. The retail trade of Tulsa
is adequate to a city Of fifty thou
sand persons. but not to city Of
sixtv-nin thousand persons. When
you reflect that to develop it nothing
in the wide world is needed but more
of the kind of co-oporation which is
already be~un so excellentlv by the
Chamber Of Commerce. / think you
will excuse me from spending any
more time upon the subject.
What is the next form of subsist-
ence? 1t is one very little understood
in America. 1t is the matter Of stor-
ing and distributing of supplies. No
city is greater than it's wholesale
trade. The wholesale trade of Tulsa
is sngularlv uneven Three cities
there are in this part Of the world
rising to claim supremacy. for one of
the interesting laws of transportation
which govern the Growth of cities is
this, that great economic advantages
rest with cities full nights Journey
apart. II YOU will take radius of
from three hundred to four hundrev
fifty miles and put it upon Kansas
City as a center. and sweep it across
the state of Oklahoma. YOU will see
the zone in which some dav there will
arise a citv as great as Kansas City
is great. Now. the three most prom
ising candidates for that ditinction
are Mukogee. Tulsa and Oklahoma
City. Which one of these three will
achieve distinction at the expense of
the other two it is not for me to fore
cast. Frankly. nobody on earth can
forecast it. because nobody on earth
can tell what power of leadership will
develop in either of those three cities !:
but be sure of this. that if Tulsa has
ever such wonderful power of leader
ship and develops it with ever such
great energy and enterprise, she can
not achieve supremacy among the
three without uniform. symmetrical.
sufficient wholesale trade.
Lines Not Represented.
Where is her trade weak? She has
no wholesale trade at all in drugs,
none in hats and CAPS. none in shoes.
none in millinery. There was time
in the development of cities to the
south of us that Dallas had no lever
age so conspicuous as that to be
found in her superiority as a market
for the wholesale trade in millinery.
You think that millinery is not an
important thing to bother about; you
are not married if YOU do. St Paul
for a long time was the millinery GEN.
ter of the west. and it was an element
of real strength in her commercial
life.
And whv is it we should develop
the wholesale trade of a city like
Tulsa. with oil. with coal. with ore
directly south of her. With thou
sand advantages. why must she bother
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