The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-12-18
THE nIDDLEnAA AND
THE COST OF LIVING
Hy LEWIS II. HANEf.
ICON timed from Yesterday
PART III.

Though the average wholesale gro-
Ger makes less than per cent net
profit On sales. his expense Is about
s per cent. Ii is u fair question. there
fore, {" ask If we could not get along
without hin. Let ua SEQ just wha;
he does for society and the consumers.
First. the tobber or wholesale gro
Ger is an efficient buyer. There is a
problem In deciding what to buy. also
when- where and how much tn huV.
Every woman knows that efficient
shopping" Is a ffre art. The whole
saler has 10 be familiar with the needs
of the elm munity which he serves. aud
With the bes' source OF supply. in or
der To act inuSt economically. He las
to be in .ouch directly or Indirectly
With thousands of manufacturers and
sources Of supply all over the world
India for tsp Brazil for coffee. Italy
for olive Oil etc | visited two local
wholesalers ~ Gently, one Of whom told
me that he was asking for canned to-
n1atoes b certain figure which was ten
cents a dnxer over what others were
selling for. When remarked upon
this he said, I'VE we've stung." He
had bought beforn The market had
reached the lowest prices. In other
words, the consumers We're getting
their canned tonla toca SO far as tho
Wholesaler vas concerned, at a figure
ten cents A dozen less than would have
been the CAS-, had tho ma jority OF the
iobbers In this community not used
shrewdness II: buying that product at
a certain time and place.
Second t.le iobbar assemblies the
products frc'u all over the world gath
ering them together Mt the most con-
venisnt points for distribution He
gets them l.. lots Of carload quantities
which means the cbea nest sort OF
transportation. He gets together
small qua ntitics combining the output
OF many manufacturers. and trinEing
together the various supplementary
lines OF food products which are re :
quircd To make a well alanced meal.
he gets them at the lowest freight
costs he gets them in to point which
is within roach of the retailer and the
consumer
In the third case he stores these
hundreds o. thousa nds of commodi-
ties, holding them until such time
as they rias be required Many os
trese produ IS are seasoned. me job
Der must ouy his canned vegetables
and fruits, dried fruits. etc. as pre-
duced, and hold them for distribution
throughout Il period of eight or ten
months. during which there viii be
none coming on the market Having
in his warehouse store. or reservoir
of food products. he is a bic to make
frequent distribution 10 neInerous re-
tail merchants, thus permitting them
TO operate more cheaply and res
ularly than IL they had to provide for
floor space TO carry large stocks.
There are perhaps 4o0 900 retail gro
GERS in the country, and they are all
dependent upon these great central
reservoirs furnished by the whole
salers.
Fourth. ~ some extent the whole
sale grocer grades. packs and ships
prc<uets, The grading and packing is
less done than was formerly the case,
but 10 some extent, in dealing in ex-
tracts toilet soaps. cocoanut. etc. the
jobber repacks these items.
Fifth. he helps f'na nces both the
manufacturer and tho retail grocer.
This function is closely connected with
the storage warchousing function.