Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-06-04
r. L. REIFSNYDER
On Hosiery Trade Gambling

DHILADELPIIIA is the hosiery manutac-
l. turing center of the world, and by that
same token Philadelphia harbors as many
high class gamblers as you will find any
where in the United States. So declares *.
l.. Rcifsnyder, editor of the Knit Goods
Bulletin and long identified with the knit
ting trades in this city.
Next to farming, | don't know OF any
legitimate business where the man with
money to lose can lose it easier, says Mr..
Reifsnyder. F"I refer here to the manu-
facturc of hosiery, not the sale of it to the
consumer. TO be frank, | guess the average
manufacturer wishes he had the average re-
tailers chance to sell direct but business
ethics and faith with his customers make
that ordinarily impossible.
when woman buys even very modest
pair of hose nowadays | wonder If she stops
to think Of the planning and tgurlng that
went into the contract on which they were
made and sold to her store. The maker of
hosiery has to gamble on demand, months
ahead buy his yarns and thread. needles
and other supplies, and trust to luck that
when it comes time to make delivery his
order Will not be Cancelled.
Has to Gamble on Market
"Ordinarily, the hosiery manufacturer has
from three to six months to deliver. If the
price of yarn goes up, he has to deliver at
the stated price just the same. If it goes
down. his customer insists that he make
allowance for cheaper manufacturing costs
and give a prOportionate reduction from
contract price. The market at time of de-
livery IS what fixes his price, but the market
for supplies when he contracted to make the
goods is what fixes his profits.
"OftcntmCs it's a heads l. win tails
you lose proposition.
"A retailer goes to his source of supply
and says: Here, my men won't buy any
spending too much on 81 silks. Cotton yarn
is away down. We've got to get a reduction
from our contract price to meet competition
or there won't be any recorders from me.
The price is cut. So dad is able to buy his
cotton socks for twenty five or thirty five
cents, perhaps. Incidentally, daughter and
mother keep on buying the expensive kind
"'Thorc arc at least 1900 mill hands in
philadelphia dependent on hosiery mNnufaC-
turc for n living. ] know personally that
more than one mill man has gone direct to
his help and shown them where he couldn't
keep on running if they didn't let him cut
wages, and they have responded. In order to
make as small a profit as six cents n dozen
on some cheap grades one manufacturer had
to call his entire force in and explain the
situation.
'IIc was gambling that he could pay run
ming expenses if he kept going, and he asked
them to gamble with him. If manufacturers
would always lay their cards on the table
probably there would be less difficulty in
keeping the wheels moving.
Export Situation Puzzles
"The export situation in hosiery is an
other dlscouraging variable which hangs
gloom all over the mill mans brow often
times. He may buy yarn counting on q
| steady trade with Great Britain, for in
stance. and along comes some new monkey
wrench in the wheels Of the League of Ma
tiOns, or Poland tries a new two step In
Silcsia and the United States export bust
ness in cotton hosiery drops n million dozens
q month. Result, n local market glut, forced
| price cutting and more woe
"Onc might think, to look at store win
| dows and the city streets these days, that all