Newport daily independent., 1918-11-25
Can Make or Break a Community Through Exercise of Their Buying Power.
THEY HOLD PURSE STRINGS
it 10 Estimated That at Least 30 Per
 Cent Of RetAI Purchasing Is Done by Feminine
 Shoppers.


 the world and nowhere Is this more literally true than in the world oi trade. The woman is the purchasing agent of the household and man, as Q rule. is very glad to have her handle the Job.
 1t has been estimated by some stu dents of the merchandising game that 30 per cent of all retail buying is done by women. This may be high esti. mate but visit to the retail stores of any town or city Is enough to con vince one that the figures are not too high. The preponderance of women among the buyers is sufficient. at any rnte, to make not only the retailer but the manufacturer and the wholesaler realize that it Is the women that they must please with their merchandise. Because they do by far the greater part of the buying in any community, Stha women have q responsibility that they do not always appreciate. The women of town, through their buy ips power, can make or break the mer- chants of town and as natural con sequence they can make or break the town. It Is in their power to make it prosperous town or dead town, When the women of town acquire the mail order habit, the town may just as well begin making arrange lnents for it's own obsequies.
 Hard to Understand.
 Just why woman, who is a shop per by instinct and shrewd Judge of values in merchandise, should sue cumb to the lures of the mail order house it Is difficult to understand but, unfortunately, some of them do. No one knows better than the woman who has had some experience in the buy ing of merchandise how difficult it is to distinguish between the genuine and the imitation even after a close inspec. ton. The good shopper, when on buy. ing bent, does not always take the first article that Is offered for inspec- lion. In fact this Is the exception rather than the rule. The merchants know 1t and expect it. They expect a woman, if she is good shopper, to .slcok around little"
 If woman should walk into re. tall store and purchase the first suit that she tried on, for instance, the shock probably would prove fatal to the storekeeper or the saleswoman. The chances are that she will try on dozen suits and look at as many more before she selects one that suits her taste or pocketbook, and the store skeeper not only expects but wishes her to do this. He wishes her to be satisfied as he knows that satisf1ed customer Is the best advertisement that be can obtaj
 Taking . Chance.
 This same woman, however, may or der a suit from mail order house on the strength of nothing more than pretty picture and an alluring descrip- ton, She has not even the opportun- ity to try 1t on, to say nothing of the chance of examining the fabric, noting the exact shade of the material and inspecting the workmanship. She IS taking chances on the suit fitting her. on the material being good and dur able, the shade becoming to her and the workmanship of such a character that the suit will not fall to pieces. The woman who takes such chances cannot be called a shrewd shopper.
 It might be more easily understood why mere man, unaccustomed and averse, as a rule, to shopping excur- sions, should fall victim to the cata- logue habit. He might find 1t easier to order from the picture in the cata- logue than to go to store and look for the article that he anted or he might take the position that he wouldn't know what he was getting anyway if he went to the store and he might as well take chance on the mall order gamble. but why the wom- an who knows what she wants and knows that she is getting what she wants when she gets it should buy on the "sight unseen" plan-weli, that's another question altogether.
 Woman's Greatest Opportunity.
 Women are taking more and more prominent part in public affairs all the time. They are aiding now In many parts of the country in running tho affairs of state. Even where they do not have the ballot they are playing q big part. individually and through their organizations, in the conduct par ficularly of local governments. yet in the one fleld where they can do most to help build up their communities fhay may be. overlooking their oppor- furity. With the buying power in their hands they can do more for their by stanchly supporting their home business men than they ran possibly do in any other way.
 Man may think he is very impors ant clement in the progress and deyel- ,ument of his town but when he re- iects that 30 per cent of the Duyine ,ower of the community is in the ,anda of the women he is apt to real se thst he Is very inslgnincant s'0W'