The Topeka state journal., 1919-11-29
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Buredu
FREDERIC j. HASaIN, Director.
VgnehfIston, D. c.
ROLLING STORES.

ROLLING SIORES.
New York. Nov. 26.-A new and
! picturesque weapon for defeating the
high cost of living has recently been
developed in New York. It is known
as the Rolling Store.
/ A rolling store is large truck,
drawn by two giant horses, and filled
with huge stacks of dry groceries,
which rolls into a neighborhood at
the early hour of eight in the morn
| ing and thereafter does a rapid busi-
ness until six o'clock at night. 1t sells
| its produces at prices ranging from
25 to 80 per cent lower than those be-
+ ing charged by the stationary grocery
! ',ores, thereby earning unfr.endly
criticisms from those, sources, blessings
from the housewives, and the hearty
comm endation of the New York COM
missioner of markets.
Ninety-six of these rolling stores are
incorporating thruout New York and
Brooklyn, and Mr.. George H. Salmon
vice-pres.dent of the North American
! Export Co. who is doing the operat-
! ing, says that in another month there
will be two hundred of them. The de-
mand for them from neighborhoods in
which they have not yet appeared. is
! so great that one person is kept busy
simply answering the telephone calls
/ of housewives, who are indignant be-
cause their d 's;ricts have been sighted.
/ We are here to reduce the high
| cost of living" is the red-lettered mes
sage which the rolling store bears on
| its gray-awninged side, and beneath
| that there is q list of the supplies it
| carries with their prices The other
! day this list included bacon at "a
cents; best candled eggs Sc cents; can
/ of pork and beans weighing nearly
i three pounds 121a cents; best coffee
! 35 cents; can of tomatoes IT cents;
peas (No. p IS cents; can of corn 13
! cents; and rice Clancy Blue Rose) 10
cents.
! Buying from a rolling store is much
like buying from a cafeteria. First
you look a the price list, then you
| help yourself to what you want, with
| the assistance of an extremely busy
| salesman, knowing perfectly well
! beforehand what the total cost of the
| purchase is going to be- In most sta
| tionary groceries in New York you
! cannot do this. The prices are not
| listed on the wall, and when the clerk
! finally adds the total up on paper
bag, showing that butter or eggs or
>coffee have taken 81 sudden leap in
| price you have no evidence upon
| which to contradict him. A customer
usually leaves rolling store not only
! with the pleasant sense of having Sc
! cured bargain but with the virtuous
conviction that he has aided in a great
| civic movement. He has helped, as
| the rolling store points out. Mayor
| Hylan to knock the H out of the H.
C. of L.
The first rolling store was started
about the first of October, merely s
j an experiment. No one. was certain
as to how it would be received, but
| the results were so satisfactory that
! ter. more stores were added every
week and four warehouse terminals to
supply the stores were opened in New
York. While the stores have not been
able to bring back those marvellous
days before the war when the nickel
still had a separate and distinct ex-
istence, they have brought about
surprising reduction in prices.
"Our object" says Mr.. Salmon, sis
| not to compete with merchants who
are selling groceries at reasonable
prices. 1t is merely to drive out
| profiteers. We go into a neighbor-
costing too much, and we stay until
we have driven the profiteers to re-
ducing their prices. Then we move
on to another neighborhood.
/ For instance. when we first started
operating most storekeepers were sell
| ing peas and corn at from Is to q
! cents a can. We started selling the
same kind of peas and corn at 3 cents
can, and the result was that the
storekeepers then reduced their prod
ucts ia II cents a can. We knew that
they were losing money at that price
that the move, was directed against
US. But. as a matter of fact, it did
| not hurt US the least bit. For we sim
ply ceased selling peas and corn for
the time being and replaced them with
| other cheaper products
! The rolling stores are able to sell
goods at reduced prices for various
| reasans. In the first place, they do
not have the large overhead expense
! which must be met by the ordinary
grocery store. Their selling force is
/ n Of
whom is also the truck driver, and
neither of whom wastes any time in
persuading customers to buy goods. At
a rolling store. you can either take 1t
| or leave it. No one cares whether
you buy food or not, because there
are too many anxious housewives
waiting to grab whatever is left over.
In the second place, the North
American Export company, has pur
chasing power of half a million dol
! lars behind it, which enables II TO
take advantage of all cash discounts
and to buy in large quantities direct
! from the producer. According to Mr..
| Salmon. this factor alone permits
them to make a saving of 55 cents on
the dollar-a saving whick usually is
absorbed by middiemen and clumsy
methods of distribution.
THE chief purpose of the rolling
store" he says, is to reduce the cost
Of living and to provide employment
for returned soldiers and sailors. All
of our employees are men who have
just come out of uniform -
On the other hand. one gathers that
| the corporation is by no means run
ming an eleemosynary institution. 1t
does not seek to conceal the fact that
| it is operating for a profit
"Of course. declares Mr.. Salmon,
The company does not yet know what
| the profits will he in this proposition.
| 1t will not paw certainly until we have
200 stores operating. We are con-
vinced. however, that such a plan can
be made to pay in dollars and cents.
and yet the customer will not he
obliged to pay the high prices which
he m'fst submit to in the regular
stores"
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