The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1920-11-04
SOME RETAILERS RESIST
REDUCTION IN PRICES
Readjustment Rumbles on
Store With Nerve
Wins Ont.

tIHEOoORE PRICE In News Record,
The process OF readJustment goes
on tmpeded; by the natural RESISTANCE
their property for teas than they had
hoped 20 get for II. In the west thd
tarmers are holding their wheat IL
the south they are refusing to ser
Sheir cotton. The average retailer Il
which show q heavy loss on cost. Sales
are restricted In consequence and man
uiacturers and tobters nnd Il hard "a
These are conditions which try com:
them. We know that they cannot last
Indefinitely, and the more philosopher
ally we accept them the less irritation
We shall feel. Some Commodities
notably coffee, rubber and hides. ara
proportion Of these articles OF our con
sumption comes from abroad and thefr
cost to US Is reduced by the existien
premium on the dollar In foreign mar
kets. In so far as our American crupe
I this year ar, are concerned. !, seems .r-
more. At all events any further fkA
In prices will probably be very gradual
and whom retailers have succeeded IN
working off the fall stocks for which
they contracted last spring business
TOO many retailers, and some mid
diemen, also, fear price cutting. and
their attendant losses as q hospital
patient fears the amputatlon OF limb.
Yet heroic measures are at times
When the patient pa t1 decides q und dsn;
the. operation he does not have the
limb anputated joint by Joint. which
would unnecessarily increase his pain
and prolong his recovery.
so in retail trade. Where dealers
OF replacement values the great kuyinH
power Of the public he's been quickly
made apparent and cheap goods are
moving In considerably greater guam
titles than last year. Tho latest avaii-H
systems show increases OF 20 % a
per cent. over 1919. S
The president OF the Association q
Retail Clothiera has advised lie men~
bars to forget all about profits.
brand q muslin which every womax
knows has been placed on sale BY
New York department store at / cent
above the present wholesale prio&.
which 10 one-haif Of the highest war
figure, while q few blocks away an
other store 10 asking nearly double
Other examples Of the efficacy az
price cutting are numerous. but most
retailers still fail TO appreciate the
obvious fact that farmers whose cot
ton and wheat have declined severely
are snsss svsr r. ., g paving high prices 81
OK the countrys purchasing power.
Tho industrial and commercial work.
ers who represent the other 60 per
cent. are equally determined 10 SEE
more for their money because they
slyen them from all sides 10 reduces
their spending In order 70 bring pricc9
Town. Their own ability 70 buy Il also
being gradually impaired by the in-
creased unsmployment and wage re-
including. the New England and south,
srn textile districts, Chicago niachlna
shops and Nevada mines.
wage reductions, however, are iK-
svitanle IN many Industries, notwith.
pose them vigorously. As long as thew
modify prices they connote not Teas
bower 20 purchase goodA, but more.
Nor has unemployment reached alarms
NC proportions. Il undoubtedly win
y checked when those who deal with
he public realize that their hope Tor
uture prosperity liea IN present nacrl-
ice OF profits 10 set the wheels OF
industry turning land keep tho buying
Ipillty OF tha workers unimpairau.
few manufacturers sneanwhile are
banning to avert further curtailnent
~ selling ut retail themselves, an ex-
,edlent which has been tried before
n periods Of depression. This should
lot bs necessary for Il IL wastefuYs
duplication. OF channels which carry
lnlple goods TO- the consumer. except
When unwisely blocked. as at present.
4 IL also becoming evident that trade
lullneas and tho large stocks OF goods
\ the hands OF retailers and mlddin-
aen are, increasing their demands On
he banks and lntenslfying tha credlt
tringeney. Crop moving needs are
\ their peak and on the stock an
hange call loans hing around 10 par
cnt, nearly all last week. The con-
lnuing tightncss OF money, Remark
BILE In view OF declining prices and
the record amounts both OF hank
,ans and OF reserve notes In Cirque
ltion. has many supplementary
Aunes which are not generally
ealizsd.