The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1919-11-13
High Cost of Distribution


good sized river. The business part
of the town and about one-third of
the residences huddled in bunch on
this lower level. One-third of the
residences lying on the south bench
or first bench south and extending out
for mile or more southwark, the re-
manning third lying across the river,
which is spanned by wagon bridge
quarter mile long, where the first
bench rises hundred or two hundred
feet above the bridge, according to the
direction taktn. The south bench is
probably 200 feet above the business
section and nearly everywhere the
roads are laid out to conform to the
contour of the hills and as some were
blasted thru solid rock were not very
good.
mention all this to show some of
the difficulties of transportation. One
of the transcontinenta lines of rail-
roads runs thru the valley and it has
its depot only block from the main
street, so that transportation from
the depot to the retail stores is only
: at most two or three blocks and the
cost isIvery low only very few cents
per hundred weight.
The town has the usual complement
of stores. Five years ago / believe
there were seven grocery stores, a
couple of dry goods stores, ditto drug
stores, etc., etc., and Produce Co.,
or a sort of a Union store, owned by
the farmers of the neighborhood, who
held shares of stock, and was oper-
ated by one man on commission of
ten per cent for all expenses. Their
stock consisted largely of flour, feed,
grain and hay, altho other articles
were added gradually and now they
are handling full line of staple gro
ceries or the heavier necessities of
their members and patrons. And one
man did nearly all the work Of this
store.
I supposed they had a $1,000 or
$40, 900 annual business and you can
imagine my surprise when the nanag-
er showed me his sales for 1918, which
were nearer 100000 than 10 or Is.
AS remember they were trifle over
$4,000 for ten months.
Il naturally wondered how he did
| it and he explained. First they bought
everything in car lots. A spur of
the railroad ran past their warehouse
door so that his unloading was almost
nil in dollars. and cents, even tho he
sometimes hired a helper to help him
unload by the hour. His terms were
spot cash, so he had no bookkeeper.
His sales were bulky, usually going
out in $40, $40 or even $40 and $50 lots
mostly to farmers who helped to load
it, paid for it-and the deal was clos
ed. He had no delivery and the town
trade was not solicited, but strange to
relate, a good many came there to
trade. His prices were supposed to
be on par with the other stores, the
idea being that none of the other
stores could do business on ten per
cent and live, and they might just as
well get as much for their goods as
anybody, and If there was a profit,
give it to the stockholders or MEM
bers. I do not know what those div
idends were, but one man told me they
were very, very satisfactory, indeed,
and he was buying more stock when
ever he could. So consider this a
very good proposition indeed and one
that could well be copied in any small
town.
Now if you will follow me we will
take a look into one of the other
stores, no matter which one, for they
are all the same. You will find the
owner or prop. back yonder bordering
over his books; one clerk at the tele-
phone, one or two putting up small ar
ticles of goods for the delivery boy
who is hustling to get around before
some customer loses her patience and
the store loses her patronage. If we
will question the clerk at the telephone
and he will tell you the truth, and /
believe he will, for our grocery clerks
are usually the best natured and most
obliging critters on earth, (have to be
if you please, to hold their jobs) he
will tell you that the orders he is
getting over the phone average less
than 81 each. The boss can tell you
his deliveries actually cost him 15c
each or more. He can also tell you
that all his other expenses amount to
fifteen per cent or more on his gross