The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1918-05-31
MERCHANTS MUST
BUILD 1BAckFIRE"
Can Beat Mail Order Houses at
Their Own Game Il They
viii Do e.
ADVERTISING ONLY WEAPON
Catalogue Concerns Spend Hundreds
Of Thousands Of Dollars Annually
to Create Demand for Their
Merchandise.


Copyright. 1917. Western Newspaper Union-
The forest ranger and the prairie
farmer have learned that they mus
fight with fire. They know that wheI
the all-consuming forest or prairie fires
are sweeping toward them their Onl,
hope Of safety lies In the 'back-fl
BY kindling and carefully controlling
fire of their own they force the big
ger fire To burn itself out, finding NJ
further fuel on which to feed.
The merchants of the small cities
nud towns are learning that in waginl
their fight Tor 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 q whole, are begin
ming to realize that they must fight
fire with fire and that to save them
selves they must build q 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 publi-
cations which look for their circula-
ton 10 the people of the small towns
and the rural districts. Advertising In
some Of these mediums costs as much
as from $40 to $S5 for single inch.
yet the mail order houses find 1t 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 q single
month their business would be de-
StrOyed.
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-
Using is a big word and 1t covers a big
field. There Is no longer to be found
the man who does not believe In sad-
vertising. Every merchant believes in
advertising of some sort. The placing
Of display In a show window Is ad-
vertising. The only difference between
that kind Of advertising and advertis-
ing in q 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 eeeets Confidence.
The buying public has learned that
the store which takes the people into
its confidence through its advertising
is the one In which 1t may expect to
get the best bargains and the most sat
treatment. It 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 advertises
can place lower prices on Its goods be-
cause 1t turns over Its stock oftener
than the store which does not adver- |
tise and therefore does not have Its |
capital tied up In sl0w.moving mer-
rhandise.
The mail order house does not get |
is 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. 1t creates q demand |
'or its goods by placing In its catalogue
attractive pictures and detailed de-
'criptiOns Of the articles which 1t has
% sell. The lure Of the mail order
catalogue lies In the fact that the
merits. or alleged merits. Of the mer-
offered are placed before the
purchaser In the most
'raphic manner. The local retail mer-
liant has the same opportunity to do
his that the mail order house has and