The Harrison times., 1918-12-28
MERCHANTS MUST
BUILD "DACKF|RE"
Can Beat Mail Order Houses at
Their Own Game II They
viii Do II.
ADVERTISING ONLY WEAPON
Catalogue Concerns Spend Hundreds
Of Thousands of Dollars Annually
to Create Demand for Their
Merchandise.


Copyright, 1911, Western Newspaper Union)
The forest ranger and the prairie
farmer have learned that they must
fight with fire. They know that when
the all-COnSuming forest or prairie fires
are sweeping toward them their only
hope of safety lies in the "back-hre.'
BY kindlmg and carefully controlling
fire of their own they force the big
ger fire to burn itself out, finding no
further fuel on which to feed.
The merchants of the small cities
and towns are learning that in waging
their fight for existence they must
adopt the tactics of the men of the
West. The great mail order houses
Of the cities are the consuming flames
which threaten to wipe out the retail
merchants of the small towns unless
the latter realizing their danger take
steps to remove the menace. The re-
tail merchants, as whole, are begin
ming to realize that they must fight
fire with fire and that. TO save them
selves they must build back fire."
Advertising is the weapon with
which the mail order houses conduct
their warfare on the retail merchants
of the small cities and towns. The
mail order houses do their advertising
through their own catalogues and
through certain publications which are
known as mail order advertising me-
diums. A big mail order house spends
hundreds Of thousands of dollars mere.
ly on the preparation and publication
of its bulky catalogues.
Business Built Upon Advertising.
The catalogue houses also spend
thousands upon thousands Of dollars
in advertising in the mail order publ.
cations which look for their CirCula-
tiOn to the people of the small towns
and the rural districts. Advertising in
some of these mediums costs as much
as from $40 to $50 for single inch,
yet the mail order houses find it profit
able to pay these high rates. Their
business Is built upon advertising and
if they were denied the use of the
mails for their advertising for single
month their business would be de
strOyed.
In advertising, the local merchants
find the only weapon with which they
can beat the mail order houses at their
own game. This does not mean neces.
Sarily, only newspaper advertising, al.
though that is the big gun in the bat.
terry employed by the successful mer.
chant in his battle for trade. Adver.
tiSing is big word and it covers big
field. There is no longer to be found
the man who does not believe in ad
vertising Every merchant believes in
advertising of some sort. The placing
of a display in a show window is ad
vertising The only difference between
that kind Of advertising and adyertiS
ing in newspaper is that where the
one reaches dozens the other reaches
hundreds. Attractive window displays
are, of course, an important adjunct OF
any retail store. They serve their pur
pose but this purpose is only to attract
the attention of those who may be
passing by the store. There are other
forms of advertising, such as personal
solicitation, but printed matter must
always continue to be the chief reli
anCe of merchants in attracting Gus
toners to their stores.
Advertising 5egets Confidence.
The buying public has learned that
the store which takes the people into
its confidence through its advertising
is the one in which it may expect to
get the best bargains and the most sat
iSfaCtOry treatment. 1t knows that the
store which advertises consistently and
regularly has the best and most up-to-
date stocks because this store sells its
goods more rapidly than the one which
does not advertise and, therefore, is
not forced to carry over old stock from
one season to another. The public
knows that the store which adyertiSes
can place lower prices on its goods be-
cause it turns over its stock Oftener
than the store which does not aCser.
tSo and therefore does not have its
capital tied up in slOw.moylng mer
chandse.
The mail order house does not get
its business by merely letting the pub
lie know that it has dry goods or hard
ware or groceries or some other com
modify to sell. It creates demand
for its goods by placing in its catalogue
attractive pictures and detailed de-
scrlptlons Of the articles which It has
to sell. The lure Of the mail order
catalogue lies In the fact that the
merits, or alleged merits, Of the mer-
Chandise offered are placed before the
prospective purchaser In the most
graphic manner, The local retail mer-
chant has the same opportunity to do
this that the mail order house has and
can do It much more effectively than
the mail order house can. The retail
merchant can talk TO the people Of hls
community through his home newspa-