The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1919-11-14
KNOCKING OUT THE
HIGH COST Of LIVING
Harvey Clark Sets the Pace "Self-Serv-
ing Stores the Friend of the Econo-
mic House Wife

much argument to induce him to buy
a defunct grocery.
'MacGregor, who ran the one pros
porous and paying grocery in the
| town, was Scotchman who had
worked up from the bottom. He pos
sessed. besides long practical expert
ence, natural business acumen. The
/ cream Of Oletha's trade was his The
skim milk went to his six competi-
tors.
| "The wives of the prosperous busi
ness and professional men of the
town patronized MaeGregor's. as did
also the more prosperous farmers.
His prices were a shade higher than
those quoted in the other stores,
but his goods were reliable and his
lively arranged than were those of
his competitors. He gave credit,
but was too wise a business man and
too canny Scot TO extend it long
to any one about whose ability TO
! pay there was any doubt He gave
delivery service, as did the other six
the only difference being that he
numbered among his customers prdc-
tically every one in Oletha who really
needed the service or could afford
to pay for it in groceries priced high
enough to cover its cost. Unless it
was bag of flour or some other
heavy commodity the rest of the
town were rather glad of an excuse
to go over on Main street and to
carry home the wherewithals for the
next meal.
Three of Oletha's groceries still
delivered with a horse and wagon.
The others used fliTver runabouts
with trailers for delivery work. Not
I one of the seven knew whether his
delivery outfit was an asset or liza
billty. They just took it for granted
that a grocerystore couldn't run
without one.
Tn the spring of 1918. Jones, one
OF the seven. unable to obtain more
credit or to- collect his outstanding
four years of hard work. long hours
and much anxiety. six thousand dol.
lars poorer than when he tried to
break into the grocery game.
Jones failure. like previous local
grocery failures. caused the rest, eX-
cepting MacGregOr, to shiver in tneir
\ shoes and to speculate on how long
it would be before they followed suit.
Four shivered at the handwriting on
the wall and did nothing to head OFF
the inevitable The other, a shrewd
New Englander named Stephen Todd,
shivered. but while shaking decided
that if there was any way out OF his
present predicameft he was going
TO find il before it was too late. Dur
ing the past year his store had just
made expenses. minus pay for his
own time and work. Money suffl-
cient for him and his family to live
on had had to come out OF his fast
dwindling bank account. Six months
at the outside would find him broke.
Todd Takes a Chance
Todd had been railroad engin'
eer for may years. After prolong-
ed nervous breakdown he had bee-.
ordered by his doctor to get into
something less nerve-racking than
running an express train engine un'
less he wished to repeat the perfor'
nance. While convalescing up in
the country he had heard of a gro
Gerry store which was for sale in
Oletha. the nearest town. The one
thing he really wanted to do was to
get into his greasy overalls and run
an engine.
Barred from that, keeping a gro
Gerry store looked as good as any
thing else to him. Then, too. it re-
ouired i experience. Two years had
changed his mind regarding that par
ticular bid which the grocery store
j business had made for his favor. 1t
seemed to need a blamed lot OF ex-
perience to make a go OF it.
"His stock was lower than when
he had started cut, his delivery car
! might be tinkered up so it would go
another year, but no more, and unless
he could make larger monthly pay
Continued on Page Two)