The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-01-16

Du' phSy uIu. we put III rest TOOIuS,
something they never had before. All
the time the advertising was increas.
ing.
Last Years Business $500, 900.
/ had a younger brother who came
into the business at that time. He
had developed into a great advertis-
ing man. At the present time we
have a large contract with our daily
paper for advertising fer the year
1920. We pay 30 cents an inch. We
spent last year on that business be-
tween $4,000 and $4,000 In adver-
Using. We sold over half q million
dollars worth of goods. This year we
expect to sell over $685. 600 worth. We
handle groceries, dry goods. ready-to-
wear clothes and the basement Is filled
with shelf hardware. c~rockery and
dry goods. The advertising method
that we pursue out there is the news
paper, first, always. I believe the
press Is the best medium and cannO
be beat. Then the personal letter.
then circulars, pamphlets and cata-
lOgues. But the main thing Is the
press. In our little country town with
a little over 1900 circulation we can
put In an ad, for instance, q suit sale.
We run w every year, n In June
and another along in September. We
send out u personal letter to our mail
ing list. We have one compiled of
only $500 names. Our country is very
thinly populated. We have to go out
some forty miles to get this number
to mail out. | wonder what we would
do If we had a 5000 population right
at our door?
When we are ready to have a silk
sale, we get out an advertisement tell
ing them all about 1t. Everything Is
absolutely honest. Our first adver-
tisement tells the people to watch for
the page advertisement in the news
paper. On the morning this silk sale
is to be opened that entire dry goods
section Is nothing but silks, spread
out, so that when they come in the
door there are silks all ready to greet
the eye. We have the price tags on
them. These sales invariably are a,
success. We not only make money
In that department but 1t livens up
every department of hat store.
There are a great many people who
question that method Of doing bust
ness. We found that the consumer
used just as much silk and gets in the
habit Of using more.
Cares for Flu Victims.
We run an anniversary sale In the
fall. We are also very anxious about
the second week in December to move
a lot Of the merchandise that we ex-
pected to move in October and NOvem-
Der. We use exactly the same method.
And, by the way, all during that cpl
demic Of the "hu" we sent sympathet-
ic letters to all our customers telling
them how to handle 1t. In our town
they had no facilities for the care Of
patients. We had two large hospitals
In the city. Medical authorities took
over two stories In the hotels. We
advertised that fact through the coun-
try, telling them If they were i'll to let
us know, the ambulance would come
at once; and we gathered people from
the surrounding country. We had n
doctor to take care Of all these people
during this time. Then, after 1t was
over We talked about the "f1u" being
over and how fortunate we were to
get through with small death loss. We
told them we had expected to sell this
merchandise and wanted to move 1t
and would put a price on II attractive
to them. Then a four-page ad came
out-an announcement. Where we
couldn't reach them that way we
mailed 1t to them. The first day of
the sale our receipts were $4,000. and
during the sever days we sold a little
over $4,000 worth Of merchandise.
That Is the drawing power of that
little paper. Of course. in your larger
stores here 1t would be much larger.
The page ad I am holding Is al an
nouncement Of the fall opening. The
name plate I call your attention to. I
Till d STcdt UcllcNCE III u udLuC PiutC
that stands out. For instance, when
we have a fall opening out In that
little town We have live models. We
have the best orchestra In town. We
serve coffee. cookies and try to make
It pleasant for them. 1t Is quite a
little novelty and II we have a fash
lon film. when that finn Is run. we dis
play the same garments on the live
models. That seems rather far
fetched for a small town but We are
trying II out.
How far can you 60 OF advertising2
How much can you spend? ind
there is no limit even II you cut out
some stuff that doesn't bring returns.
On our twenty-fourth anniversary ]
said to an ad, man Of the newspaper:
~ want to get out a good ad: going
to have an anniversary sale on a Ger.
tain date, and ] want to make It Q
good one"
"Why don't you nike II a good
one2" he said.
swell. all right; show me how II IL
DONE"