The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1920-04-03
MUCH MONEY
LEAVES COUNTY
COLVILLE COUNTRY ALONE
SEND HALF MILLION TO
OUTSIDE CONCERNS
Evidence That Prosperous Condition
of Stevens County Draws At
tentiOn of Merchandising World
(By a Casual Observer)

banker in Colville a few days ago
made the observation that it was a
fine day, and then we commenced
talking about the amount of business
that is done in Colville each year.
| remarked that it had the CONNER
cial lead over any other town in the
north country and started to go,
when he said, "Just wait a minute,
| want to show you something" He
reached for stack of returned
drafts and checks and commenced t.
run over them. "Now," he said,
"here are about forty checks run
ming in amounts from 81 to over $50.
can't show them to you because il
is against the rules of correct bust
ness to disclose the affairs Of on
patrons, but this pile of checks rep
resents over $500 returned in a single
day, and it is our fair average of
the daily returns on moneys sent
goods"
Well, I calculated in my head that
for month this would be about $10,-
600, and for year, about $l20,000.
eyes," he said, "you have not said it
all yet for here are two other banks,
and the postoffice, and the express
office. Just multiply that by about
five and you have it." SO, | multi
piled it by five and got the grand
total of 100000 sent out of the
country tributary to Colville each
year to -Roebuck and Mont
gomery-Ward and other mail order
concerns doing business in cities
more than 1000 miles away. This
was a revelation to me. l doubt if
there is a business house in Colville
that approaches an annual business
of 100000.
I mailed a request to Sears-Roe
buck for their latest catalog. J.
came, and I selected list of articles
which a normal family might buy
in the due course of domestic bust
ness; and then | went to one store
and priced one article on the list
and then to another store and priced
another and so on until | made the
rounds of the business houses in
Colville, and | found there could be
a saving of more than 5% by buy
ing at home.
Now, there is another angle to this
business condition. We will sup
pose there are about 10000 people
trading through the Colville center.
This would mean $50 each in busi
ness sent away. If the same ratio
holds good over Stevens County with
a population approximating 25,OOO we
may estimate that $l,500,0OO is sent
to mail order houses for goods that
can be as cheaply bought in the home
town store.
There is always a lot of argument
about economy in buying from mail
order houses, and before the war
this argument stood the test in favor
of the big out-of-town concerns. The
war, however, brought on different
conditions which gave the mailers
license to boost prices and while
their old-time customers were dazed
by the price juggling methods under
new conditions they did not stop to
figure out the fact that Chicago
prices and New York prices are far
above the prices in the average home
store.
The Home Merchant
Ny story would not be complete
without a reference to the value OF
the home merchant, and to give this
value it's due weight, / wish to quote
from an address made in Spokane
March 25 by President Ernest NJ.
Hopkins of Dartmouth College, who
said:
81 think there is such an obvious
advantage to the consumer in having
the retail system centralized some-
where and in having all the service
features that go with it that it de-
serves consideration from the COM
munity.
81 think that the public li'tl" ="
alizes the value of the existence OF
the retail distribution system OF the
country, to have concerns that are
willing to do the exploration work.
to discover materials and to have
groups of capital willing to invest IN
goods to be stored at central point
and made available in quantities OF
our own choosing.
81 believe that fundamentally the
influence of the retail trade system
of this country on civilization has
been much more marked than Is