Evening star., 1924-12-01
EXTRA HELP READY
FOR HOLIDAY RUSH
Merchants Seek to. Improve
/ SaIesmanship and Speed
Up Deliveries.
BY j. G. ROYLE.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, December For the
next three weeks the retail business
of the country will practically be in
the hands Of the men and women be-
hind the counter. AS a consequence,
merchants and department store man
ayers are putting their employees
through an intensive course of train
ing. They are making desperate ef-
forts to inculcate in their clerks a
lost art--the art Of politeness.
Wholesalers and manufacturers
have been complaining bitterly re-
Gently over the quality OF salesman
ship exhibited in the retail stores.
They have gone so far In some cases
as to ask permission to utilize their
own sales people in retail stores,
where they are especially anxious to
push their goods. The retailers real
ize that their sales forces are far
rom perfect. They say they cannot
be expected to secure the services OF
embryo John Wanamakers and Mar
shal Fields at the present scale of
wages. But they, too, recognize the
danger Of poor service. especially at
the holiday season.
Seek to Hold Trade.
The ma jority of the larger stores
all over the country are now taking
on additional help. With some COM
panies these extra workers run well
into the hundreds and their training
is giving the employers acute con-
Germ. The service of these additional
clerks Will end the night of Dece m
Der "a. Many Of them take this
extra work solely for the purpose
Christmas purposes. They. therefore.
lack the incentive OF possible ad-
Nancement which spurs the efforts
or regular employees, and are less
amenable TO discipline
Merchants recognize that a regu-
lar customer spending hundreds of
dollars a year may be lost forever
through the discourtesy OF sales
woman hired for the holidays at a
total outlay OF s36. Mos. of the
temporary employees. therefore, will
work with an experienced sales per-
son close at hand and more stress
Is being placed by their instructors
on the necessity of courtesy to
patrons than on knowledge OF the
stock. Many stores nave worked out
definite systems Of directing traffic
Through their aisles during the rush
hours - Store detectives have in
creased their forces, although In COM
partson with the volume OF business
done at The holiday season the
amount lost by shopliftlng is sur
prisingiy small.
DE livery More Difficult.
Deliveries in the larger cities will
occasion more difficulty than at any
time since the automobile came into
general use. Stores are better equip
ped for deliveries than ever and
packers and leaders have been aug
rented. bat street congestion and
strict traffic regulation have imposed
heavy diff The move to the
suburbs OF hundreds OF thousands OF
city dwellers also is factor. These
customers continue to patronize the
city shops, but they expect 10 have
their purchases delivered tc their sub
urban homes, often IS TO 30 miles
from the store, almost as promptly
as Al city apartments
In number of cities ystores in con
gested districts where parking Of au-
tomohiVes is prohibited have ar
ranged 10 run bus services from resi-
Dental sections for the benefit of
their customers. Public bus COM
Danies and traction lines are coop
Grating with merchants to distribute
the shoppers throughout the day and
induce them 70 utilize the hours when
traffic is at its lowest to make their
purchases.
Wages BASED on Production.
Employers in all lines are watching
Closely fc, the results Of the agree
ment reached between the New York
Clothing Manufacturers Exchange
ana the AmalGamated Clothing
Workers establishing an unempioy-
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