The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1919-02-24
WITH THE EDITORS
THE NAIL ORDER HOUSE AND THE
COUNTRY MERCHANT

COUNTRY MERCHANT
F. P Mann, president Of the North Dakota
Retail Merchants association, contributed some
hard common sense to discussion of the mail
order problem before the recent convention in
Minneapolis Of the Minnesota Retail Grocers asso.
s''' Hs .s,dI sea mai, 1ga% b:sjl should s. 6
fought by better merchandising methods, and
above all by advertising Zone reason why mail
order houses have made such progress he said
lis that ninety per cent of the rural business men
do not believe in advertising" "...% I
.v.1 The st tss' Of ~ ' is t1s ssses"y ."
In the many rural newspapers that come to
this office we have many times observed this
phenomenon that most Of the cutlery against mail
order houses comes from the communities whose
local merchants, judged by the advertising col
umns of their local newspapers, are the least pro-
gressive
In nine times out of ten, when you find a coun.
try paper attacking the mail order houses and
urging people-vainly, nc doubt-to do their buy
ing at home, you will find few local store adver.
tisements in that paper, and the few that are
there are bare announcements, seldom or never
changed, that such and such merchants are en-
gagged in such and such business enterprises Such
advertisements, when inserted by so-called mer-
chants, are the products of men who do not be-
lieve in advertising, and who do what advertising
they do largely as charity to the local newspaper
Yet the local editor, handicapped by the unpro-
gressive sloth of the merchants battles week in
and week out against the mail order houses in be-
half of these unprogressive merchants whose neg
lect Of great opportunity gives the mail order
houses their best opening.
On the other hand, when a country newspaper
carries real advertisements, using good space and
full of detailed figures and bargain prices showing
that that town has progressive merchants, you
seldom find it worrying about the mail order
houses. The mail order house is no problem there
because the merchants by up-to-date merchandise.
ing and effective advertising are able to hold their
own and more.
Nine times out Of ten the merchant that sits
under his cobwebs and whines about the mail order
house deserves to be defeated by this distant com
petitor because he doesn't brush up on his mer.
chandising and especially on his advertising
Country stores that run real advertisements, like
those Of the leading merchants in Duluth, stand uI
successfully against mail order competition, and
the newspapers of such towns never need to waste
breath in academic arguments in favor of buying
at home.
One advertised bargain, showing that the live
home store can compete with the mail order
houses, is worth yards and yards Of printed up
peals to patronize home industries.
The merchant who is worried by mail order
competition has his remedy right 1T his elbow il
the local newspapers advertising columns, pre
viding he studies the advertising methods Of cit,
merchants and keeps @ date in his advertis
ing Is he does in his other merchandisfng methods
Duluth Herald. :Sss.,l;Ili, S..