The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1920-01-01
ADVERTISING IS
LIFE Of BUSINESS
DEFENSE AGAINST THE MAIL 4
ORDER HOUSE ~
COST REPAID IN INCREASED BUSINESS
Retail Merchants Association, Tells
His own Experience.

The author if this article, Fred
Mann, is president of the North Da-
kota Retail Merchants Association. He
owns and operates a department store
in Devils Lake, n d., a town with
a population of $500, and does a busi-
ness of 100000 a year
There is nothing theoretical in Mr.
Mann's statements. They are the eX
preston of fact given by one merchant
to another, because his statements are
made for the benefit of small town
merchants.
What is really the life of any city?
1t is the merchants. You are the real
people who do things, keep everything
moving Should they not work togeth-
er as a unit in having an organization
and shape the destinies of your city?
And | urge on you to get together in
an organization, have few banquets
and talk over the problems Of your city
and your advertising propositions.
am great believer in collective
advertising, where everybody in the
town gets together and advertses, and
really one of your greatest assets is
good press with good, big eli Cula-
ton. l have always said that would
attribute a great deal of our success to
the newspaper men.
When | first started in business 20
years ago l bought out a grocery firm
in the city Of Devils Lake, n. d. For
tunately | had letter Of credit, and
Minneapolis grocery firm let me have
$1,000 worth of merchandising | had
worked in the grocery business, anc
as boy of twenty-one years Of age
the highest salary l ever got was $3e
a month. / didn't have enough money
to pay the freight on my merchandise
and borrowed money from my father.
| opened up that little store. | had TO
pay SIS month rent. Some Of the
merchants failed in that town, and
bought some of the fixtures, about $35
CT $40 worth When | got ready to
open up the store a newspaper man,
friend of mine, came in and said
Fred you have get your stock here
and | believe you understand the gro
Gerry business. You are pretty well
known here and pretty well liked.
want to tell you something. If you
want to succeed you must advertise.
| want you tatake a little space in my
paper. Now don't think or get it into
your head that you are merely giving
it as donation to the paper. 1t will
mean not only business for me, but
business for you as well"
Some way or other when | had that
little store stocked and let the people
know that was in business and that |
would like their patronage | began 10
do business, and very fortunately for
me my old boss did not believe in ad-
vertising. We kept putting little ads
in every week, snappy, live ads. My
old boss thought it didn't amount to
anything But it didn't work out that
way, and the business began to come
to me- The first year | sold, with the
aid of one man, $4,000 worth of gro
ceries. 1t went along that way for
three or four years. | kept increasing
advertising. Later / added dry goods
and clothing. We began to grasp the
idea that advertising had helped to
sell groceries and would naturally help
any other line. | did the advertising.
The business grew rapidly, and in 1907
we built very beautiful store. Every
body said l was going broke sure. The
building cost me $4,000. 1t is IS by
140 feet, two stories and basement.
We only use the lower floor and the
basement. l put in about $4,000
worth of mahogany fixtures and fixed
it up fine. Everybody said the farmers
wouldn't come in store of that kind.
But they did We put in rest rooms,
something they never had before All
the time the advertising was increas,
ing.
had a younger brother who came
into the business at that time who has
developed into great advertising
man, and at the present time we have
large contract with our daily paper
for advertising for the year 1920. We
have to pay 80 cents an inch. We
spent last year on that business be-
tween $4,000 and S13,5000 in advertis-
ing. We sold over half million. This
year we expect to sell over 100000.
We handle groceries, dry goods, ready
to wear and have the basement filled
with shelf hardware, crockery and dry
goods
The advertising method that we pur-
sue out there is the newspaper first,
always. believe that the press is the
best medium and cannot be beat. Then
the personal letter, then the circular
and pamphlets and catalogues. But
the main thing is the press. In our
(Continued on Page 7-Col. 1)