New-York tribune., 1920-05-12
TAKES The H. OUT OF HCI.
WAhAMAkER GIVES BACH THOUSANDS
or DOLLARS TO CUSTOMERS.
His Process of Price Reflections Per
mits $50 To Purchase S6t9S worth
Of Merchandise anc New York
KNOWS BaTG ain
BY WESTBROOK PEGLEE.

BY WESTBROOK PEGLEE.
Ne7v York, May :. - John
Wanamaker today gave his
New York customers thousands
Of dollars in reduced prices, and
many of them gave the money
right back to John Wanamaker
for more merchandise.
It was one of the greatest
selling days in the history of
the Wanamaker Store, eXcelling
some of the Christmas shopping
days of last December, which
was the heaviest season of all in
the amount Of money spent, if
not in the volume of merchan-
disc turned over.
Today you walked into Wana.
makers, selected your suit, your
lace curtains or your globe Of
goldfish and paid the clerk the
regular price marked on The
tag, less one-ffth. Prices were
not marked up to compensate
for this deduction, and such
prices as had been previously
marked down remained marked
down and one-ffth was sub
tracted from the bargain
price.
SUIT AND SHOES FOR $50
If your fancy snagged on q
$50 serge suit, you unbuttoned
$50. handed the clerk forty and
gave yourself back 4 SO bill.
Later, wandering through the
shoe department, you bought
$3.50 pair of shoes. recently
marked down to $40, for SS. .
You then had a suit. d S12.5O
pair of shoes and a So bill for
your $50, instead Of just The
suit. The collar counter being
close by. you got eight collars
for $1.92. And with your
cents change you bought a =
cent paper TO read on your D.
cent ride home in the subway
and had a cent LETT 70 gamble
on the subway pari-mutuel or
gun-VendinG machine.
You had spent just $50; yo!!
had bought $64.9S worth of
merchandise; you were ahead
one pair of shoes. eight collars,
a paper, one car fare and mlld
speculation. AS collars are 60
ing up 10 cents more soon, you
might add so cents more TO your
days gain.
MONEY BACK II LUNCH
ROOM
Hundreds Of men and women
who work in offices near the
store were pleasantly surprised
to receive money back IN the
Wanama',cr restaurant during
today's lunch hour The 70
cent lunch was so cents; the
dollar lunch, so cents.
When a millionaire walked
into the rug department, as
some did today. being unable 10
ride upstairs in their limouslnes,
and bought an Oriental rug al
$4,000, he entered $500 on me
credit column CT his househola
ledger, enough to buy Jhat
wicker furniture set for me
porch Of his summer home.
All this saving and spending
of such savings comes OF Joht
Wanamaker's new theory ihal;
the cost Of living can be stopped
in its tracks and made to BACK
up if the retailers viii take the
initiative in arbitrarily cutting
prices TO the consumer.
Wanamaker IS not convinced
that he can do it all alone, buV
he j. making the experiment II
the hope that other monarchs ol o91
the merchandising world VIII
join him.
THE WAY IT WORKS
The theory is Ike a cham.
Reduce the cost to the con
sumer and he buys more
creating greater demaho'
forcing production TO breas
from its easy walk into stin
trot to keep up.
Quantity production beng
cheaper than small production
the manufactures would be en-
abled TO reduce prices to tne
wholesaler, who would pass .hS
benefit along TO the retailer;
giving the retailer natural
economic basis for such reduceu
rates as We're tried out TO-DAY.
Low prices would cease 10 pe
artificial. Down would cohlV
q. >