Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-07-05
SHOPPING CENTERS
THE RAGE IN Maine

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every town or city. large or small.
claims to be: 1.-THE Shopping Center?
Some are very modest in their claims
and limit their titles to nearby terri
tories such as the county in which
they are located; others extend their
fatherly protection over a still larger
area such as 1.-THE Valley" and others
to a whole section of the state from
which they confidently hope to draw
trade and there are those whose pre-
tentlons extend to the entire State OF
slaine. Long live the shopping CEN
tiers Of the dear old pine tree state.
Now it is a wonderful thing to be
1T the center Of things. Everything
revolves about the center. From the
standpoint Of business the center is
the magnetic pole which draws ev-
/ erything to itself. And drawing to
itself of necessity draws away from
! someone else. In other words there
/ is a keen competition in every
| branch Of life, more especially in re-
tail business, and that city which
gives the people the most for their
/ money, eventually becomes the BUSH
ness center of the area in which it is
located. With good roads a city can
! draw from a radius Of from fifty to
: a hundred miles not only as to custo-
! mers for its stores but also as to pa
! TENTS and clients for its professional
men and patrons for its amusements.
4 These centerJ are not of equal i'm
portance, however. That city or
town which has learned To give serv-
ice at reasonable prices and which
applies the principles of modern mer-
chandiSing science to its trade pro-
motion Will gradually take the lead.
The city which has plenty of up
and coming. young business men will
draw trade from the city which has 4
ma jorty of old timers at the helm
with fixed ideas and no particular use
/ for modern methods. 1t is common
experience that many business has
lost volume and customers because
the boss had made money enough
and because a good game of golf
would take precedent with him any
time over the demands of his bust
ness. When person stops hustling
for himself, he stops hustlng for his
town ana his town is apt to slip cog
III its own spirit of hustle
Augusta is chocll full of hustlers
and boosters. They are out after
business; that is why Augusta is one
of the most prosperous cities in the
United States at the present mo-
ment; mills running, business hum
ming, money being spent, great pub
lie programs being carried out in
f, spite of hard times elsewhere, every
good work royalty supported and the
spirit of optimism present in every
one except the few confirmed pessi-
msts that can be found in every
group of people from the two grub
stalking partners out in the Wilds
hunting for gold to the assembled
delegates Of the world peace confer
cnce.
All you have to do to create a CEN
ter is to place q dot on a piece Of
paper, or 4 map, or on anything else.
You and j are each centers and, if
we are sufficiently egotistical. we can
Imagine and believe that the entire
world revolves about us. We can go
about Boosting of the fact that we
are a center and we can claim similar
things for our city.
Last summer, the writer attended q
conference of commercial secretaries,
each of them a hired booster, whose
job it was to talk up some particu-
lar locality. The roll was called one
morning and each person twas asked
to quote, as he answered his name,
the advertising slogan that his par
ticular town was using. Hardly a
man failed to use the word Center
in his reply and THEY ALL WE'RE
RIGHT.
Augusta, like all other cities is a
center. Probably 10000 different
customers enter her stores each year.
They come from all points of the
compass and they take away goods
bearing the Augusta trade mark by
road, by train, by boat and by troll
ley. They come because they like our
city; they come again because they
have been we'll treated. AS a body
| the merchants have created CEN
| trail organization known as the
Chamber of Commerce and they in
vite their customers to report to that
organization any case Of unfair
treatment, false advertising, discour-
tesy, etc, that may come up.
We have found that we can sell
goods cheaper than many other
Maine cities and in the garment and
mems clothing lines we can easily
compete with the largest New Eng
land centers. That is why so many
people. coming to Maine for the sum-
mer. wait until they get to Augusta
| before buying their personal equip
ment. They visit the Capitol city
again as they return to their homes
for they know that they can pick
up their fall clothes in Augusta at
less money than they can buy them
| at home.
| The reason is obvious to the bust
ness men who come to Maine for
their summer vacations for they
| know that the overhead" in Maine
stores is much less than it is in
| Massachusetts or New York. They
recognize that it costs less to do
| business on Water street. Augusta,
! Maine, than it does in the big centers.
Rents are less, help is less, and per-
sonal profits are less because the
| owners of the stores Of Augusta do
not have to maintain limousines 10
keep up with the Jones" With low
cost, fair profits, and a certain
, amount of pride in their city, Au-
gusta merchants can compete with
the world about them and establish
that good will for their city which is,
after all, the determining factor in