Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-02-13
THE HARDWARE MEETING.

sM. 4 lAsE
Dakota Hardware Dealers associa-
ton, which has just been held IN
Grand Forks, has been n of the
largest, and, in the opinion OF many
Of those who attended. by far the
most successful ever held in the his
tory Of the association. The dis
cussions naturally covered matters of
suecial interest TO, the hardware trade,
but none the less important to the
general public, for, as in all malters
pertaining to merchandising. the in
tsrests of dealer and consumer can
MOI be separated. Sometimes, and
up to a certain point, those interests
may appear to be in conflict, but
there is a common ground of inter-
est on which all u stand, that OF
the prosperity of the community.
With that prosperity assured, the
nsum is able to become a liberal
purchaser, and the dealer is serving
his trade diligently and intelligently,
is able to reap his own reward for
faithful service well performed.
The line of exhibits by manufac-
turers and jobbers was by far the
largest and most varied that has ever
been shown at q similar meeting in
North Dakota Those exhibits, TASTE
fully displayed as they were, were
naturally Of special interest to the
retail dealers in attendance, for it is
from the stocks from which these
articles came that many Of their pur-
chases will be made. But from an
other standpoint the exhibit was OF
rnore than passing interest to the gen.
eral public.
:. Hardware runs into money NQuite
rapidly, a. those know who have &C
casion to buy. In the samples shown
were many articles of strange de-
sign Of which tho average person
knows neither the name nor the use.
Yet these things, as we'll n the or
binary staples, form necessary parts
of a regular hardware stock. Per-
haps no retail store carries all of
them, but any fairly we'll supplied
store carries. in stock not a few Of
these strange and unusual devices,
the uses of which are known only
to the few, and they r carried in
anticipation Of the demands which,
while infrequent, are sur to be made,
and when tho article is needed the
dealer is expected to be able to pro-
luce 1t promptly. ~
49,. TT1~k (. &-,At A-~I-~.- = IT.
respect is true in greater or less de-
gree of the retail trade generally.
The local dealer is expected to keep
in stock a large and varied assort-
ment of goods with which to supply
the fluctnatins demand of his COM
taken to keep stock moving. there is
necessary a large investment in goods
which are in only occasional demand.
The carrying Of these goods repre-
sents interest on Investment, rental
for space occupied, and numerous
other charges for expense in handling,
and, in sone lines, a considerable
percentage for depreciation.
= It is necessary thai expenses Of
this kind be incurred in order that
the community shall be served
promptly and satisfactorily. This is
n of the services hat the retail
dealer performs for his community,
a service that il not always remem-
bered nor always appreciated. Such
an exhibit as that which has just
been made here serves TO direct at
tention toward this important phase
of merchandising, and to enable one
class Of our citizens to understand a
little better the nature of some of
the problems with which another
class has to deal.