The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-10-08

grow grow II they demand that It
grow?
The store opened at 1 o'clock and
stayed open until Q on the first day.
ing. People had been gathering be-
fore the door since early morning.
When the doors opened there was a
crush and a woman tainted.
But after about two hours the crush
was over, after four hours the crowd
was gone, and in the evening, after
working hours when everyone was
ness that the matter of closing the
store earlier than the appointed time
was seriously considered.
Out of this city of six million peo-
pie, the army actually got about nine
thousand cash sales that first day. to-
falling about 1000. The next day
the great crush was repeated, several
crowd again faded away after a few
hours. and evening again found many
of the clerks idle. The cash sales this
day were n thousand dollars less, and
the number of customers nearly two
thousand less.
In other words, the tendency of the
business is to diminish rather than to
Increase And the pubic pers:stently
refuses to understand the nature of
the enterprise Here again it patheti-
cnlly reveals it's helpless devotion to
habit. The typical citizen req DIS in the
paper that the government is selling
lot of goods at very low prices at %
West 18th street. This then is a bar
gain sale. 1t is only at bargain sales
| that things are sold for reasonable
prices. If you have a certain social
position, you do not go to bargain
sales. no matter how much you would
like to Co. 1t is beneath your dig
nifty. So, if this typical citizen owns
boiled shirt and a fiivver he prob
ably passes up this sale as no concern
of his, no matter how much he has
been kicking about high prices. His
wife is more tempted,-but reflects that
the best people probab bly, won't be
there, SO she won't either.
But if the typical citizen is of the
But if the typical citizen is of the
week AMI walks to work, both he and
mis- wife scent this bargain sale as their
natural prey They know all about
| bargain sales, You go to a bargain
sale early in the morning, stand in
line for two hours. fight people with
| your elbows for another two hours
| and finally emerge with your pur-
chases, having saved 35 cents in money
and squandered two dollars worth of
! time and energy.
Th1s average citizen and his wife
Immediately resolve to go to the bar
gain sale. and they insist on doing it in
the usual manner
The manager of the store on Nine
teenth street once went to an upstairs
WINDOW and made an imprisoned
speech to the long line of people as
sembled on the sidewalk. He told
them that the store would be. omen all
| day and part of the night, and that
there was more than enough time for
all present to buy. He told them 1t
i xrr1c
permanent enterprise. which would
| still be there for months. He told
| them there were golosheS and blankets
| enough for all. They merely looked
up at him in blank Amusement, and
none of them went away. They
thought he waS>crazy. He didn't know
| bargain sale when he saw it,
So the public refuses to regard the
army sale as anything but a passing
| opportunity to buy goods cheap at the
expense in time and energy gand
oxygen which such opportunities have
always entailed before. That part of
| the public which is accustomed to
improving such opportunities comes
| once, and then regards it as all over
| One-third of these do not buy. accord
ing to Captain Peterson. manager OF
the store. They either have no money
| because they are in the habit of at
| tending bargain sales, and perhaps be-
cause they regard them as an indoor
| sport.
The bulk of the public seems to pay
no attention to the army sales at all
| Needed: Some one to teach the
public that extravag ance is not q vir-
tue, that 1t is not a disgrace to go to
the store and carry your packages
home, that the cost of living will never
come down unless we really want II
to come down badly enough to> make
some effort to that end-in a word
badly enough to buy cheap.