The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-12-28
Topeka Business Prospered- in
1920, Merchants Say.
Money Made During First Hall,
Some Lost in Last Half.
1921 OUTLOOK IS BRIGHT
Low Retail Stocks to Cause Big
Spring Demand, Claim.
To Be Readiustment of Finau-
cial and Labor Conditions.

Turbulent. treaeherous. uncertain
1920 bids fair. from the standpoint of
the Topeka business man, yet to go
down as one of the banner years of the
ventories and balances are taken on
Friday night There have been in
Vulnerable anxious hours for mer-
chants and financiers. Farmers have.
suffered losses and so have almost all
other classes of business men.
But the year as a whole promises to
break records, according to the gen
eral opinion The volume ce business
done has never been equaled before
The profit which has been made on
that business is not so large During
the past three months there has been
a period of retrenchment on the part
of the buying public. a slump in the
values of practically every commodity
on the market, which has resulted in
the loss of some of the money made
during the earlier part Of the year.
Retrenchment Period Earlier.
o. B. Cutler, of the Poehler Mer-
camille company. believes that the re-
ltrenehment period which invariably
strikes during the first two or three
months of the year, simply anticipated
ANSC41 tI1AS year Oy dbOul ninety 0dSSs
and as a result the business of the
first part of 1920 will be far above the
average business for those months of
other years.
THE slack in the chain between the
wholesaler and the consumer is taken
/ up at the present time" Cutler says.
I'VE believe that the. retail stocks in
the country are far below what they
usually are at this season of the year.
and that means an early and large de-
mand for spring stocks"
Retail business men don't know yet
where they stand, exactly. and will not
know till the business of the year is
actually completed The excellent
business during the first eight or nine
months of the year, may be offset by
the slump which has more recently
occurred.
But it is certain that those first
months were very gratifying. and the
general attitude of the business men
| is that they will come out more than
even. and that there will be a good
year ahead of them with the opening
of 1921.
First Three Months Quiet
IT look for a slump, or at least a
depression during the first three
months or so of the new year" said
W. W. Eden, of the Kresge stores.
'But after that. 1 think there will be a
reversal back to normal. and a good
year This has been the best year
| in the history of the store, no matter
what happens now. The Christmas
trade was the best we ever had, in
general. a1tho toys. were a little off.
There is no. real economic reason for
any severe depression for next year.
The building and construction work
| of. the country at large. which has
been behiRd this year. is due for a
boom next year, r. E.s1eeSon of the
Topeka Bridge & Construction COM
pany believes. The business construc-
| ton in 1920 was above that of 1919
but there are billions of dollars worth
! of work which is being held up at the
present time because of the tight
/ ness" of the financial situation, tbs
high prices of material, and the high
wages. and which are waiting for more
favorable conditions.
| Readjustment of Prices.
/ But these conditions are being rem
| edied. Finances are .'looseniHg" lit
I tie. The wave of Unemployment
which has struck the eastern side o
| the country will make men more cas-,
to obtain, and Lesson believes that tn
price of materials is coming back
with the general readjustment o
prices, to somewhere near normal !
building boom based on the worl
| which is now being held up is boun'
to result, he believes.
''The best year in the history of th'
Chamber of Commerce" A. L. Oliger
secretary of that body. says today
I'VE have added 2o1 members 70 tn
Chamber, the luncheon attendance
has gone up from an average of so 4
almost IFS, and the feeling has neve
been better. The members of tn
Chamber are going into the new yea
all set to do big things"
Nineteen twenty wasn't so bad. oil
the Whole. tho rather trying TO tn
nerves. and here is hope for a com
pietely good" year beginning mex
Saturday, in the opinion of the bust
ness men of Topeka.
| Nineteen twenty has been the bes
year in the history of the Warren NJ
Crosby store, according TO w. "
| Whitney, mana ger. In spite of tn
| rather unsettled conditions ever
| month during the year showed an in
crease in trade over the spreviou
| month and over the same month II
1919 The only evidence of a slump
| was during the first week in Decem
Der. when the business done .droppe'
TO the level of the same week in 1918
but rapidly recovered.
| Realizing that in order to take Il
the same number of dollaxs. we shal
have to sell more goods. we are look
king confidently forward TO a bette
business than ever during 1921,
Whitney said today
| NAKED AND STARVING