The mirror., 1919-10-02
to be Tried Abro;
The Nautical Gazette. Nsv York.

established there as soon as possi-
BILE. From Constantinople branch
Offices will be thrown out to reach
far into Smyrna, Armenia, Syria,
and Black Sea territory. These
posts which to some extent, will
follow the pattern of the pioneer
Hudson's Bay Company in Can
ada, will distribute American mer-
chandise and in return will receive
the products of those districts.
Caravans and other local transpor-
tation facilities will transport the
goods to the near East parent Office
in Constantinople. whence they
will be shipped direct to this coun-
try.
Of special interest is the name of
Ernest M. Bull, of the Bull Steam
ship Company, on the board of
directors of the American Foreign
Trade Corporation. The connec-
tion with a steamship company
was sought, it is announced, to
protect the Corporation in its over
seas communications. 1t is hoped
to establish regular sailings from
New York at sixty-day intervals.
The bold proposal of Mr..
Whalen and his associates has at
tracted attention to the existing
chains of stores in the United
States. Perhaps those best known
are the five and ten cent stores
with which the spectacular rise of
the late F. W. Woolworth was
prominently associated. The in
vestment in this class of chain
stores grew from $250.0O0 in 1898
to $3.50, 900, 900 in 1918, and their
gross sales in the same time from
$4,000 to $5OO,0O0,OO0.
Successful chain stores have
been built up in the field of gro
ceries. One of the best known is
the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea
Company. 1t dates from 1859 and
operates in two-thirds of the states
of the Union. The Company's
sales exceed at the present time
$4,000, 900 a month. Another
grocery chain is that of the Amer
ican Stores Company, of Philadel-
phia. This is a successful COM
bination of five tea and grocery
chains operating over 1,200 stores
in four adjoining states. Its total
sales last year we're $33, $4,000.
The James Butler Grocery Com
pany, of New York, operates some
500 chain stores. chiefly in the
metropolitan district. Their sales
are very large. The Kroger chain
of grocery stores now operates in
several cities after starting in Gin
cinnati with a very modest capital.
Other grocery chain stores are the
Jones Bros. Tea Company, Jewel
Tea Company, Grand Union Tea
Company and Acme Tea Company.
In the retailing of drugs the
chain store has seen an extended
development. The United Drug
Company has 1000 ''Rexall
Stores" in chain, which does not
represent, however, a corporation,
but simply a close association
formed for the purpose of advan-
tageous buying and selling. The
American Druggist Syndicate has
22.0 900 agency stores and capital
of $4,000, 200. Other chains
closely affiliated with the United
! Drug Company are the Riker 8
Hegeman Company, with a capita
of SIS, 900, 900 and the Louis K,
Liggett Company, with $4.534, ,O0(
capital.
Noteworthy are also the j. G
Penny stores, which started out ir
an Insignificant way in Wyoming
in 1902, with capital of but $500
This chain has now some 200 stores
J, doing q volume of over $50. 900,
600. The corporation has today {
capital of So, ,50O.O 900, all of which
has been obtained fromthe business