Imperial Valley press., 1920-07-26
BUYEVERYTHING ATHOME

Copyright, 1917. Western Newspaper unio1
! 1t has been said that the hand tn
rocks the cradle Is the hand that rul
the world and nowhere is this mo
literally true than in the world
trade. The woman is the purchasir
agent of the household and man, as
rule, is very glad TO have her hand
the Job.
Il has been estimated by some ST
dents of the merchandising game tbs
SO per cent of all retail buying is don
by women. This may be high est
| mate but visit TO the retail store
OF any town or city is enough TO col
vince one that the figures are not TO
high. The preponderance of wome
among the buyers is sufficient, at an
rate, to make not only the retailer bu
the manufacturer and the wholesale
realize that 1t is the women that the
must please with their merchandise.
Because they do by far the create
part of the buying in any community
the women have u responsibility tina
they do not always appreciate. TIL,
women of town, through their buy
ing power, can make or break the mer
chants of q town and as a natural con
town. 1t is in their power to make
ii q prosperous town or dead town
When the women of a town acquire
the mail order habit, the town may
just as we'll begin making arrange
mentS for its own obseQuies.
Hard to Understand.
Just why a woman, who IS shop
per by instinct and q shrewd judg.
of values in merchandise, should sue
cumb 10 the lures of the mail order
house it is difficult to understand but
unfortunately, some of them do. Nc
one knows better than the woman wht
has had some experience in the buy
ing of merchandise how difficult II i,
to distinguish between the genuine an(
the imitation even after close inSpec
tion. The good shopper, when on buy
ing bent, does not always take tht
first article that is offered for inspec
ton. In fact this is the exception
rather than the rule. The merchant,
know it and expect it. They expect S
woman, if she is good shopper, t
'look around little
If woman should walk into re
tail store and purchase the first sui
that she tried on. for instance. the
shock probably would prove fatal I,
the stogekeeper or the saleswoman
The chances are that she will try OF
dozen suits and look at as many
more before she selects one that suits
her taste or pocketbook, and the store
keeper not only expects but wishes
her to do this. He wishes her TO be
satisfied as he knows that satisfied
customer is the best advertisement
that he can obtain.
Taking . Chance.
This same woman, however, may or
der suit from mail order house OF
the strength of nothing more than
pretty picture and an alluring descrip
tioQ. She has not even the opportun
ity to try it on, to say nothing Of the
chance of examining the fabric, notins
the exact shade of the material ano
inspecting the workmanship. She is
taking chances on the suit fitting her
on the material being good and dur
able, the shade becoming to her anC
the workmanship of such a character
that the suit will not fall to pieces
The woman who takes such chances
cannot be called a shrewd shopper.
1t might be more easily understood
why mere man, unaccustOmed an0
averSe, as a rule, TO shopping excur
sions, should fall victim to the cata-
logue habit. He might find it easier
TO order from the picture in the cata
losue than 10 go to store and LOOK
for the article that he wanted or ne
might take the position that ht
wouldn't know what he was getting
anyway if he went 10 the store and
he might as well take chance on the
mail order gamble, but why the wom-
an who knows what she wants and
knows that she is getting what she
wants when she gets il should buy on
the sight unseen" plan-well, that's
another question altogether.
Woman's Greatest Opportunity.
Women are taking a more and more
prominent part in public affairs all
the time. They are aiding now in
many parts of the country in running
the affairs Of state. Even where they
do not have the ballot they are playing
a big part, individually and through
their organizations. in the conduct par
ticularly of local governments, yet in
the one field where they can do most
TO help build up their communities
they may be overlooking their oppor-
tunity. With the buying power in
their hands they can do more for their
community by stanchly supporting
thair homo brsipcSG mon than they