The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1919-10-09
CHARLESTON IS
FORGING AHEAD
RETAIL MERCHANTS ASSOCIA.
TION BIDDING FOR OUT-OF-
TOWN TRADE

Charleston, OcCODer "a cam
Daign to make Charleston and espec-
tally Charleston's shopping facilities
better known to the people living
within 100 miles of the city is being
conducted by the Trade Extension
committee of the Retail Merchants
Association, one of the most active
committees Of the Charleston Cham
Der Of Commerce. This committee
feels that Charleston, which has had
a period of great growth and pros
perity in the last three or four years,
should be better advertised in the
neighboring towns and the rural dis
tricts of lower South Carolina, as
well as in the territory farther away
from the city.
People who have not visited Char
lesion for several years would find
it very much changed city if they
should visit it now. The hum if in
dustry and the signs of rapid growth
are everywhere New industries of
large size have been established.
Shipping is rapidly increasing. Char
lesion has become the greatest fuel
port of the South Atlantic. New
wholesale and jobbing concerns are
springing up. Above all there is to
be noted remarkable improvement in
the retail district which lies chiefly
along Charleston's famous King
street.
New retail stores come into being
weekly or oftener. Prices on King
street real estate have risen with
amazing rapidity in the past two
years until prices as high as $4,000
per front foot have been offered for
King street realty. Many of the big
chain store concerns have recently
acquired leases on stores in Charles
ton at high rentals and are prepar-
ing to open branches in the city, thus
indicating the confidence of Big
Business in the future development
of Charleston. Notable improvement
of old established retail concerns has
also been made in the last few years
and Charleston now has many stores
of the highest class with the most
modern merchandising methods.
Among the new industries being !
established in Charleston is the Stan
dard Oil Company's large refinery, !
which will refine petroleum and will !
employ about 1000 persons in the !
beginning.
A large overall factory, the larg-
est in the south, has just been es-
tablished in Charleston. 1t expects
to employ 1,200 persons within the
year. A baking powder plant is now
under construction and new vege-
table oil company of large size is
proposed. Large expansion is going
on in some of the existing industrial
plants, :~
The Charleston retail merchants
are asking for business from people
living in the territory adjacent to
Charleston. They do not, however,
ask that such people buy in Charles
ton in preference to their own COM
munities. On the contrary, they urge
that people buy at home when they |
can, because the business men of
Charleston wish to see the neighbor. /!
ing communities built up as rapidly
as possible and would not consider
doing anything to hamper their pro-
gress. They ask That when certain
articles are unobtainable in a per-
sons home town, such articles be
purchased in Charleston rather than
ordered from mail order houses in
the north and west.
The Retail Merchants Association
of the Charleston Chamber of Com
merce estimates at $S,OOGOOO is sent
to big mail order houses annually
from territory within 100 miles of
Charleston, The association feels
that a part of this money should be
spent ih the home town of the peo-
pie who send it away and where in
the exceptional cases people cannot
get what they want at home part
should be spent in Charleston and
thus kept in lower South Carolina.