The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-11-14
BIG CHRISTMAS
 BUSINESS SEEN
 BY NEW YORKER
Manager of One. of Greatest Department Stores in Me tropo1is Predicts Santa s Pack Will Be We'll Filled This Year.

New York, Nov. 1NSanta'S pack will be we'll filled this Christmas de spite present unemployment and bus mess depression, according to man. agers of the big department stores here. This optimistic prediction is the result of careful watch of buy ing tendencies and a comparison with sales of other years.
 The gradual but certain upward swing of the business cycle is clearly evidenced in the constant increase in the number of daily purchases by the publican evidence that both men and women are profiting by the merchants advice to do their Christ mas shopping early.
 few short months ago mer- chants were complaining that the public was buying strictly in accord ance with it's immediate needs and confining purchases to necessities. ket and could hardly be sold at any price, Now, however, these same merchants are the first to tell the world that good times are returning.
 Big Sales Now
 With the beginning of cold weather came @ strong demand for clothing, underwear, furs and shoes. Canned food, coal. meats and rugs were also in heavy demand. Heating appli- ances, particularly electrical devices, find 8 ready sale, whereas there has products during the last months.
 Department stores, gauging their Christmas sales by present indica- clerks and to replenish their stocks in anticipation of the holiday business which, they believe, will surpass that of any pre-war years. This has con ployment situation, increased busi- ness in many lines has provided work for thousands who have been walk ing the streets for many months. As TNeSa r-IrAv hI-5 A their salaries again they become po- tential buyers, thus aiding the uni versa1 movement toward rehabilita- ton of business.
 War Time Business
 During the war our sales reached tremendous heights" said the man ager of one of New York's largest and most widely known department stores. t'We hired hundreds of addi- tional clerks to take care of this in- creased business. When the period of depression set in we were forced to let large part of our sales force go in order to adjust our store to the general scheme of retrenchnent. Business has unquesttonably been very bad for some time. But we are all looking forward to big holiday season sales. and if we can take pres- ent sales as a criterion I believe we will find prosperity ushered in on velvet cushion about the first of De- cember. Today we are selling arti- CleS that two II1OnIHS ago were pG- coming dusty on our shelves, We are actually turning over our stocks which seemed impossible in June. We thave already hired 8 number of extra sales people, and we have Q list from which we will take on more and more as business improves. We are not taking on o big force out of any mo- tive of altruisrn; we are taking on additional sales people because of the requirements of our increased busi- ness.
 we hear many people blaming the unemployment situation upon the merchants of the country, As mat ter Of fact. the worknen themselves are really to blame, During the war. while they were getting the high wages. they neglected to provide against a rainy day, We were forced to pay salaries out of all proportion l to the value of services rendered.. and then when we had to cut our force and, dn some instances reduce sale aries. we were charged with nissard- liness and with a lack of interest fn the welfare of the workers,
 "Rut I think all this is ever now The holiday business will be large. and this will give aew impetus to the better business movement already under way"