The sun., 1919-10-19
w TEP this way, ladies and bud
dies' Here's the finest alb
~ wool socks to be found in this


Reclaimed or renovated ones half that
price. or precisely 1915 cents, Step
lively and take your pickl Only four
pairs and no more of these wonder
full socks to customer! Get 'em
while the gettin' is good"
This "ballyhoo" was the speech Of
salesman as he stood behind coun-
ter in Uncle Sans dry goods empori-
UNI in the old Cluett Building at %
West Nineteenth street. There was
. lull in the bargain hunting, and he
was anxious to stir 'em up" He
was there for business and he made
no bones about letting folks know it.
He was an ex-service man, and a clever
salesman, although his step lively"
indicated that before he enlisted in
the army he might have been a street
car conductor in his own little Of
New York" His eagerness to keep
busy was fairly typical of the enthusi-
asm of other ex-service men engaged
as clerks in the temporary store to
pass along at stock price to house
holders the great mass of surplus ma
terials which the War Department ha.,
en- its hands by reason of the signing
of the armistice.
There are 900 of these salesmen-
% per cent. are ex-service men, farm
ers, bookkeepers, laborers, mechanics
and some regular dry goods clerks, and
II is due TO their pep and ginger in
getting the goods to the people, and to
the fine organization which Capt
Jaffray Peterson, the store boss, has
built up. that Uncle Sam now is cash
ing In at the store at a rate of $40, 900
a day. With sales totalling 5000 a
day and averaging $3.50 each, the
proprietor Of the emporium is doing
an annual business of $500, 900, figur-
ing on ass store days to the year after
eliminating Sundays and holidays
This particular department store,
for department store 1t is, officially is
known in the records as Army Quar-
termaster's Retail Store No. / and is
unlike any other department store in
the greater city. There isn't anything
fancy about it. The counters were
hastily thrown together and are Of
implanted surplus army pine. The
layout of the store and piled up ap-
pearance of things would give a prop
sriy trained manager of run
properly store conniption fit.
yet the store is growing and
business is expanding until until
now the emporium takes in four
big floors, and is fast reaching up to-
ward the eleventh floor, where Capt
Peterson and the executive Offices are
located. There Is enough excess stock
IN the army warehouses to keep the
clerks going and customers coming
until well after the Christmas holi-
days.
It's All Cash and Garry.
The store is conducted on the cash
ana carry basis. that Is. one pays on
the spot for what one gets and totes
the parcel home. There are no re-
funds and no exchanges. A patron is
presumed to be satisfied with the goods
she. buys, or she can lump it. She
can have all the time she wishes to
examine goods and make up her mind,
but once payment has been made for
an article, Uncle Sam takes the sport
ing stand that a bargain is a bargain.
The store, in addition to it's retail
sales, maintains a mail order depart
ment, which is run along the lines of
first class mail order houses and is
developing into a big proposition. The
store is intended exclusively for the
residents of Greater New York, but
no mail orders for goods will be ac-
cepted from persons living in the big
metropolis. The mail order depart
ment is for the benefit of residents of
the southern part of New York State,
exclusive Of the greater city. and of
New Jersey and Connecticut. Post
master Thomas G. Patten has estab-
lished a parcel post branch in the
store for the handling of the mail or
Ger packages.
Mail orders are filled each day as
they are received, providing the goods
ordered are in stock. AS soon as the
goods are wrapped and the wrappers
addressed and stamped. the packages
are shot into the post office and hus-
tied on their way. All orders for ar
ticlcs must be accompanied by postal
money orders or certified checks
There are 70 men employed in the
department
On entering the store proper, q
patron gets her first impression that
Uncle Sans emporium isn't like any
other department store with which she
Is familiar. If she carries a bag
satchel, bandbox or umbrella, she is
directed to go to a big counter near
the door and have the thing checked
until she is ready to depart Even
newspapers are taboo. This Is done
TO prevent any one from being sorely
tempted to remove goods from the
store for which cash hasn't been re-
ceived.
A receipt is presented to q buyer
for every purchase made and all pack
ages are stamped after the string has
been tied No person is permitted t.
leave the store with packages unless
they are passed at the exit by an in
spector who squints at the stamps
and takes Up the purchase slips. These
little formalitiss are features of the
system to protect Uncle Sam In thG
possession of what is rlghtfully his.
One shopiifter Is Csusht.
The best evidence that these pre-.
cauticnary measures work we'll is the
fact that although thousands of people
have visited the store since the OPEN
ing day only one has been caught In
the act of shoplifting. The foolish per-