Evening star., 1924-03-02
BUSINESS SHIFTING
! FROMB'GCENTERS
Cities Now Growing Up With.
in Cities, Auto Manu-
facturer Says.

The most interesting and most
significant development in the busl-
ness life OF the American city OF
today Is the increasing Importance
/ of the district trading areas. says F..
c. Chandler. president the Chandler
Motor Car Company.
This development is the natural
result Of the present trend of city
growth. and already has had marked
effect on many lines of business.
Until comparatively recent times
the American city consisted of main
trading center. into which were
crowded the retail shopping district,
the department stores. the hotels. the
theaters. the banks. with the whole
sale business district lying close by.
This plan fkely would still be fol-
lowed. but the growth Of popula-
tion continued until transportation
facilities and traffic capacity of the
streets reached their saturation point.
Then the down town" districts no
longer could absorb the crowds, so
that 1t became impossible to require
that all business be conducted in q
single restricted area.
Grow Up ax Units.
Nowadays In scores of cities
tricts rather than in a concentrated
central area. Each of the smaller
towns that existed as separate
municipalities. to be finally made a
dividuality and continued to grow as
a. unit. These cities within cities"
make the separate business centers
OF which the greater American cities
main downtown section. but most
OF the wants Of the people living In
the several districts can be supplied
IN their own smaller business centers.
The most notable example of the
change wrought by this condition Is In
the growth Of the branch banking
system. Formerly. every citv he'd it's
financial district, where were grouped
the banks that served the entire
population. This condition now exists
principal banking institutions have
established numerous branches. each
one located with a view to serving
q particular district.
With the increase In the number
OF branches came an increase in the
number of depositors and In the total
volume of business transacted by the
parent bank. The neighborhood
store, which formerly had had to
safeguard it's cash In safes because
downtown bank daily. is now served
by the branch bank around the cor
ner. Instead Of operating on the
basis of currency. it carries on its
known to the officers of the branch
bank. and can carry out financial
operations that were impossible >un-
der the old system OF central bank
ing. in which the element of personal
contact and association was lacking.
Chain Store System.
The gropth Of the chain story
,Dta ~ h
trend. Imagine conditions that
would exist today were 1t not Tor
the branch stores Of the gr reat
grocery firms and drug companies.
of the c'ty's buying and selling had
to be done In one small central area
I see the sane change coming In
automobile merchandising and serv-
icing Already. in some Of our cities,
che day has passed when single
building, no matter how large.
located in the congested area can
serve all the owners of the car IT
represents. Traffic conditions and
lack Of parking space alone prevent
it, In these cities the owner is turn
ing to the dealer in his own district
10th for buying and for service. HG
finds the small dealer" more accessi.
BILE, physically and possibly more
approachable otherwiSe-ior the same
reason that the ne'ghborhood grocer
finds the branch bank better suited
so his needs than the great downtown
financial houses.
The natural result Is already
apparent in the growth Of these ris.
srict dealers. The dealer on auto
mobile row" Is still the greatest rae.
tor n the city, but the district
dealers, combined. may have to their
credit greater total of sales In
the year.
Undoubtedly. these dealers are go
ing to be a greater factor In motor
wear, and the company that is so
fortunate as to have able representa- :
y!on in each of the newly developed
business centers of the cities Will
sweet with success