Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1923-11-01
FITZGERALD MERCHANTS ACT IN THE

FITZGERALD MERCHANTS ACT IN THE
OPEN-The Fitzgerald Leader Enterprise has
been advising its readers for some monthsback to
Buy-At-Home, and this applies to every nearby
village which the Leader Enterprise represents
We are especially pleased at some OF the letters
we have received on this subject, and as we firm
ly believe thta there is still great deal to be done
we are so enthusiastic about this subject OF buy
ing at-hOme, that we do not intend to stop advis-
ing our readers to do so, until the amount of mon
cy sent every week to the mail order houses has
been reduced considerably from what it still is
One OF the stock excuses OF the man who orders
goods from mail order house is that there are
many things that he wants that the local mcrch-
ants do not carry in stock, and that it is necessary
Tor him to send away from home to get them
This explanation may be all right on the theory
that poor excuse is better than none but it fails
to pass muster when it is subjected to a little
scrutiny.
Ask the man who offers this as an excuse for
his dealings with the mail order man why he does
not go to the local merchant and ask him to order
the articles desired if they are not to be found in
the merchants stock. The merchant will very GLAD
ly do athis and the merchant and customer will
both profit The merchant can sell you whatever
you desire at as low price as the mail order
house can make you goods the same quality and
he can make small profit
The customer will profit from the transaction,
because he will be dealing with merchant who
stands back OF the goods that he SELLS and who is
easily accessible IN case the articles purchased do
not prove to be all that the customer had expect
ed
Why not try this plan the next time you need
something which you cannot find in any of your
home stores? The merchant in the average sized
town can not carry in stock everything that all of
the people i'll his town may want at all times It
would require capital many times larger than
the veragc merchant can command to do this,
but he does the best he can He ordinarily does
carry IN stock at all times many things in order
that he may meet the needs of his customers to
the greatest possible degree, but there is a limit
to his purchasing ability He is ALWAYS ready and
wiling. however, to make every effort to meet
the demands Of the community Why not, then
give HIM the preference over the far distant mail
order man if you must have something which is
not to be found in the local stores? He will do the
busnIses in satisfactory manner, give YOU as
quick, If not quicker service and more satisfact
DRY treatment and the chances are that he will
give you better values for the money Finally
whatever profit is to be made off the transaction
VIII stay at home and do its bit toward making
the merchant and his town, and, incidentally YOUR
self more prosperous.
No business can be transacted as satisfactorily
at long range as it can when the two parties to
the transaction meet face to face The only cxcep-
ton to this rule is in the case of the mail order
man himself who can transact his business with
greater success to himself at long distance than
he could II he had to meet his customers face to
lace That is the reason that ne does business by
mail instead OF selling to the people in his own
city. If the goods which the mail order man adj
vertises in his alluring catalogues were the bar
gains that he represents them to be- he would not
have to 60 outside of the confines OF his own city,
to sell all the goods he could possibly obtain. But
the average mail order house not only does not
make any effort to sell goods in its own city, but
VIII not sell to anyone residing within the city
limits The mail order man does not want to meet
his customers face to face. He can do business
better so lar As he is concerned if his customer is
some hundreds of miles away from his office
The man who sells goods over the counter, on the
other hand, does business in the Open He cannot
hide behind corporate name of talk to displeas-
ed customer from behind the locked doors of pri-
vate office. He knows that he must face the music
IN case he is party to any transaction that won't
stand the light of day. He knows that he must
satisfy every customer with whom he may be deal
ing. or he will lose not only that customer, but
probably others who will soon know all the facts
If he does not do the square thing by any one of his
patrons.
A funny thing is that man will hang around