The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1919-04-10

food products-and in all the links in
the chain of food distribution, / feel
it my personal duty as purveyor of
prunes to protect his position, remov-
ing the bushel, as it were, that has
hidden light in the past.
Because of the fact that it is ex-
tremely difficult for any man engag
ed in the jobbing business to see and
appreciate fully how great is the SER
vices that the jobber actually per-
forms it has been no fault of the job
Der that his light has been hidden.
Much more is involved in the work of
the jobber, that becomes apparent
only with closer view than is permit
ted most people.
To the man on the street the job,
Der is large commercial house, rank
ing in stability with the best institu-
ton in the community. It's working
capital is relatively large; its credit
rating is excellent; it is an institution
whose whole bushes is to buy goods
and resell them to retailers; it is On
organization for marketing; sales
organization, first, last Snd always.
That is about as far as the average
mans notion Of a jobbing house goes.
The jobber studies the consumers
needs of his trade territory, deter
mines what the people want and then
sets out months in advance of the ac-
tual demand, to assemble the goods to
satisfy the needs; drawing upon all
parts of the world. Assembling the
merchandise that people will want
next season is an enormous social re-
sponsibility when one stops to think
about it. He must buy from hundreds
of producers. A superficial count of
the countries of origin" Of the mer.
chandise of single jobbing concern
showed that there were over thirty
countries represented.
To care for these incoming goods,
storage must be provided; warehouses
that will keep the goods safely and
free from deterioration in any kind of
weather. fire, vermin, or what not.
The jobber's warehouse is the source
of supply of most retailers for the
majority of goods that they want.
1t should be kept in mind that the
jobber of today is generally and es-
sentially local institution. Not many
grocery jobbers can sell a large am
cunt of goods more than hundred
miles or so away, that is comparative
ly speaking The jobber's strong
points are: l) That he carries
large open stock, from which the re-
tailers within certain radius can or
wire, and secure the goods in few
hours.
(2l That orders can be made up
for practically everything the retail
er wants and in such quantities as de-
sired.
The advantages Of the jobber to the
manufacturer are obvious. Months in
advance of consumption and in adj
vance Of the retailers orders, the
! jobber places his orders and thus re-
lievs the manufacturer of watching
the market, and making his own stud
les of consumers demands. A great
many manufacturers are saved practi-
cally all selling expenses by selling
their entire output to one or a few
! jobbers, by contract for the season, or
! in large quantities at stated time.
! 1t is easy to understand the value of
and the necessity for statesmen.
cannot 60 into detail upon the sub
ject here, but every business manager
knows that in orde, to move goods, we
must have statesmen and craftsmanship.
The expense of building and running
a sales organization will be approx
mately the same whether built up by
a jobber or manufacturer, man for
man, but the ratio of expense to sales
will be far different. The jobber's
statesmen represent a large line of
goods, comparatively handled. The
manufacturers statesmen carry 10th
| ing but what their concerns make. l
have never heard of manufacturer
claiming that he could sell his pro-
duct at lower selling expense than
the jobber. Whether the manufactur-
er shall have sales force Of his own
or not, must be settled upon other
grounds in sales cost, but back Of the