Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1922-09-28
THE TROUBLES OF
THE RETAILERS
ROGER BABSON PROPOSES a
NEW AND CONSTRUCTIVE
PROGRAM FOR THEM.

on saving the pennies and let the dol
lars slip thru our fingers. The Of
ficials of every manufacturing COM
pany in the country are hunting
trantically for new ways to cut down
the cost Of production. They llc
awake nights over a few cents an
hour on labor, or an extra dollar or
two on a ton of coal, on any other
factor which may affect the cost of
making this product. Once the goods
are made and out Of the factory their
efforts cease. The job Of getting
their product to the ultimate consum
en- belongs to someone else.
"All Of us have become SO en-
crossed with the problem Of cutting
down The cost Of production that we
have let distribution take care Of IT.
self We have saved millions mt the
bung, but we are losing mil lions at
the spigot In the past fifty years
the amount of goods produced in thc
United States has increased probably
ten times over. The number OF
workers necessary 10 produce those
goods have Increased only about two
and a half times. This means that,
owing to new machinery and better
methods, the average worker today
is able to turn out about four times
as much goods in eight hours rs the
worker fifty years ago did i'm ten on
twelve hours. Allow for the cost Of
the machinery, fuel, etc, and oven
then you find the average unit proc
ducing cost today is less than half Of
what it used to be. In production
we have made wonderful progress
because We have given most of our
thought and effort TO it.
"Tun to distribution and we find
no such progress In fact, the per
centagc cost Of distribution probably
has not been reduced at all. With
twice the production per worker we
should expect that the wages for
days work would buy twice as much
goods as it used To. If distribution
had been improved as much as pro-
duction, "a days wages would bay
four times rs much rs it did fifty
years ago. We all know that no
such increase has taken place. In
fact, it is debatabe if the average
family today is even half again as
web off as il used to be.
This does not mean that the re-
taller or the jobber or the carrier
are hogging the difference. III means
to large cxtfnt that we have not
developed our tastes so as to get the
most for our money. It means that
we have not educated the retailer
and other distributors to most eff
ficient methods Of handling mer-
chandise. In short we have not
made the same progress in distribut-
ing goods as we have in their
actual production.
eve have been devoting our ef-
forts to building better factories, TO
getting a greater output from labor,
TO putting out more and better goods.
eve have done very little toward
the equally important problem of
. getting those goods to the ultimate
consumer The government is spend
ing over $l00,0O00 600 a year in re-
search TO help the manufacturers and
farmers, but il has never even taken
a census Of the retailers. Hundreds
of men are employed gathering in
formation on the crops. Hundreds
more are experimenting in chemical
research for means Of fighting pests
and blights which destroy crops, and
instructing the farmer in their use.
"Similar work is being done fer the
manufacturer to help him find more
efficient methods Of production. A
complete census Of manufacturers is
taken every five years, which shows
the number Of firms in each industry,
their production, costs and profits.
These things, Of course, cost money,
but they are worth it. They are
largely responsible for the fact that
the United Safes stands head and
shoulders above any other country in
the efficiency of its production Is
there any reason why we should not
spend at least as much to help the re-
tail distributor on wnOm we must de-
pend to get those goods to us
so far most people have been con-
tent to point to the growth OF the
chain store and cooperative selling
movements as indicating the short
comirgs Of the individual retailer,
but the crying need Of the hour is
that we all get behind the retailer
and help him. If his methods are
wrong it is our misfortune and it is
up to the rest Of us to show him
better way. He sells at least $50
Of all the consumers goods bought in
the United States; he has more than
a million stores in the country re-
presenting an investment Of billions
Of dollars; in short, the individual re-
taller today is our main and vital |
artery Of distribution.
"Many people thoughtlessly say,
do away with the individual retail
er. Let the chain stores or the CO.
operative association take his place"
Anyone who studies the problem, I
however, must realize the short 4
sightedness of such plan. Both The I
chain stores and the cooperative as
ISOLATION are all right, but would we