Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-11-08
THE TREASURY STORES.
b. rRznER1C ]. HAsxIN.

THE TREASURY STORES.
B1. FRKnERIC ]. HAsKN.
Especial Cesrsspondencs Of The Afgusls
washington, D. c.. Nov. s-waahiuston's
newest retail store, now in the second week~of
. peomisine career. is located in the Sub
basement Of the treasury bsiiaing- TO reach
1t ysa. descend two lights below the main
door and travel about quarter Of nils By
way Of narrow winding Railways such ~ those
used BY the ghosts in the Mysteries o.
Udolpho,"
But the store. whom you ct % II. y sur
prisinsiy Ike any crossroads store IN the eoun-
try. It sells all sorts Of groceries and salt
meats, and also clothing and shoes and various
other articles in the drygoods line. The only
difference between this store and good many
other stores 10 IN the prices. They are lower
here Rice that il retailing for Is cents up on
the surface Of the earth may be purchased
down here for Is cents. A standard brand g
coffee that brings the retailer from % to %
cents . pound may be bought here for ~
cents Seventy-hve cent butter may be pur-
chased here for IS cents.
These samples are typical Of the savings
on food which this store offers, but the savings
ON, clothing are much larger. The other DAY
q woman who had just bought coat In . re-
tail store came into this basement haven OF
the harried consumer. and saw exactly the
same coat offered for sale. She asked the
price, 1t was $50 less than she had paid. She
went loudly and had to be cOmforted BY the
management.
This i the only untoward incident which
has marred the even tenor Of the stores sub
terranean existence, except when the manage
ment had 500 pounds Of sugar to sell. All OF
the 5000 subscribers who have right to buy
l. CIV linn
that sugar. A riot ensued. and the general
manager hid to make . speech and lock up
the rest Of the sugar in the Office safe hefole
order could be restored. He says that the
store will not offer any more sugar Tor sale
until 1t has 1900 pounds on hand.
As you may have guessed by this time. this
is one more cooperative store. 1t was organ
ICED with the august and reassur~lg permission
OF the secretary of the treasury. It's stock
holders are 1000 employees Of the treasury
department and its allied departments. Each
Of these has clipped In s.. In return he gets
q ticket allowing him to buy at the store. Any
time he becomes dissatisfied he may turn in
his. ticket and get his IS back. The store Is
governed by an executive committee Of 1.-The
stockholders. 1t is managed by J. G. McGrath,
who is the grandfather Of the community store
idea in Washington. -
This store in the basement Of the treasury
building Is only one Of three that are under
Mr.. McGrath's man agement. second il al
ready operating in the war risk insurance ,hu-
reau, and 10 doing good business. The third
Is to be in the bureau OF engraving and print
ing. and 10 now being organized.
These stores are conducted on exactly the
same basis as any other retail stores. except
that they do not have to pay rent Uncle Sam
gives them space free OF charge. That Is one
reason why they can of1er food cheaper than
the retailer. OF course. On the other hand
they are operating on small capital. SO lar.
and cannot get the discounts that 90 with large
orders. 1t has been figured out that the store
can be operated on these discounts alone. when
Is able to get them on all lines OF goods
ana thus can sell everything u the wholesale
price.
FOR example. the store mas ALREADY bought
large enough quanuues 70 OBTAIN the discount
ON cert.ln brand OF creckers' or biscuits put
up IN boxes. Tne wholesale price Of these
crackers 10 cents box. and It Is 30 shown
In all invoices and bills and other commercial
literature the retailer sells them ior 10 cents
DoA' ano ne Is Nhlns 20 prove 20 you tnst
ne 10 only makine z-cent pronl And yet
the treasury stores are selling these same
crackers az Genus = oo4 Without losing any
money, because tne company pays BACK ID
cents On esely aoiisl lol an oIoer OF . ceftsin