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

been dong business with for the past
ten or twelve years and tell them
you would like them to take some
space m tne paper. Have them pay
for It,"
We got out the 14-page advertise
ment. 1t made a wonderful hit.
brought a great deal Of business, and
established us more firmly In the eyes
of the consumer.
Fights Mail Order Houses.
have been doing a great deal of
work with the ~jobbers, manufacturers
and retailers. About one-third Of the
business OF North Dakota was going
to nail-order houses. | sent out a
man, Doctor Carr, TO investigate. ]
hired him because he is running a
magazine advocating Trade at
Home" When we found mail-order
houses doing business at home, we
became interested in mail-order bust
ness In North Dakota. Seventy-two
solid carloads Of catalogues from mail
order house were delivered in North
Dakota at that time. l hired two
men and sent them out over the state.
They interviewed merchants. | had q
little sheet for them to fill out, asking
about advertising. Well, / found that
IS per cent Of them didn't believe in
advertising. Then l knew at once
what was the trouble to a great ex-
tent. / estimated that over a million
dollars was being spent in that state
by mail-Order houses. / found that
$75,O00,000 were being spent in the
United States by the mail-order
houses, and that a million went to the
state of North Dakota. To those con-
sumers every single day came cata-
logues or pamphlets Of some kind, and
the retailers of hat state absolutely
not making an appeal to the consumer
for their business. | went to the job
bers and manufacturers. They didn't
know what was going on. 1t never
entered their heads that they were
losing % per cent Of the business in
that state. told them: you ought
to realize that retailers are your
agents and when they are gone you
won't have anyone to distribute your
merchandise"
| have been in Chicago in Mar
shall Fields, and Carson Prize Scott's.
They have been interested along
that line. l said to these jobbers: 81
want you to do something for the
retail merchant along these lines.
| found in talking to these men
they do not understand advertis.
ing and do not believe in 1t. l am
satisfied that So per cent Of the
business people in the United States.
outside the larger cities. do not be-
lieve in 1t, do not use it. and do not
realize the wonderful opportunities
they are losing. ! started to educate
them, to interest them in this work.
so that when the merchant wants adj
vertising for his paper or his letters
or circulars or pamhlets. he will 60
TO any Of the houses and they will help
him. They have become interested in
IL. Also the question Of price has
come up. To this day a great many
pCoplc uEule lIdl lit Ieldll lIeItIldlll
cannot compete with mail order
houses" I laid it before these men:
you must furnish the retailer mer-
chandise at such a price he can meet
mail order competition. He is your
agent. Are you going to let them clean
him up or keep in business yOurself?'
They promised they would furnish
merchandise that would meet all mail
order competition. | tell the retailer
If the wholesale houses don't give
them a price that will meet mail order
competition, let me know about it;
single instance where the jobber or
manufacturer has refused to meet
mail order competition. | got away
with the price. | put backbone into
the merchants.
Then | started on the advertising
game. l talked to travelling men and
got their houses to go out and sell
merchants not only merchandise but
advertising.
Solving Peddler Problem.
l found the peddlers were selling an
immense amount of groceries over
North Dakota, and went to the
wholesale grocers and said: 81 want
to get out an advertisement myself,
a grocery ad, just as attractive as
these mail order people send out"
They got up an advertisement. They
sent this out to their trade. We used
this advertisement and. believe me, we
sold some merchandise. And they
thought that a good idea. They went
out and sold over 1000 of their rus
toners that idea and think eventual.
ly We are going to get out of 1t WON
derful results.
I found that 65 per cent Of the
coffee in the state of North Dakota
was being sold by peddlers and mail
order people. / know we did not have
the coffee business and began to inves-
tigate why. ] found we were selling
pound packages and mail order houses
M Oc 0. r.