Evening star., 1924-03-03
RETAIL SALES NOW
AT RECORD PITCH
Spring Business Expected to
Reach New MarkS-Latest
Figures Ana4yzed.
ny j. G. ROYLE.
Special O-77ct:h to The srar.

Special Os7c.sh to The Star.
NEW YORK, March 2.-There is
every possibility that department
store, chain store and mail order re-
tail trade will exceed all known rec
ords this spring. The volume of busi-
ness done by those agencies in jan
uary established Il new high record
for that month, and a questionnaire
sent. to representative firms handling
dry goods, tools, machinery, hosiery
and drug store goods indicates that
practically all expect to show in
creased business this year
The dry goods and clothing bust
neSSeS VIII be materially helped by
the fact that Easter this year will
come late-well on toward the mid
die of April. This factor has not
tended to help wholesale business, as
10 the last moment for possible style
change before stocking for Easter
demand, but carefully authenticated
reports indicate that stocks Of de-
partment stores are now between u
and Is per cent higher than they
were year ago.
February Sales Enormous.
Aggregate sales of eleven large
systems of chain stores last month
coached "a total of S35.192,31I. a gain
oil l3ia per cent over the correspond
'ng period OF last year. The combined d
sales Of the two largest mail order
houses in the same period totaleu
3l.oOS,33o, a gain of 10 per cent.
The demand for work clothing is
forcing manufacturers to employ in
reaSed forces to satisfy ii, and is re-
sarded as an accurate indication that
Industrial activity will continue at
least for the next six months with
& tcOnn3nNinEr 81,
bank deposits in the agricultural dis
trlctS no longer are regarded as a
criterion of the buying power of the
farmers, since II Is known that loose
banking methods followed by closins,
OF many financial institutions in the
northwest has caused many farmers
10 withhold deposits and turn to the
SOCK under the mattress and the tea
not behind the clock assplaces for
keeping ready cash. This fact is
counted on to have bearing on mail
rider sales.
Credit Sales Increase.
s,'aIn While the volume volume of cash sales has
part of 1923. the development of the
business done on credit has been an
ven more striking feature of the re-
All situation. For example. credit
Cleveland estimate that their credit
business ranges from o5 per cent in
The stores handling iow-priced and
popular lines to 80 per cent in the
most exclusive shops.
downtown retail stores there ac-
cording to one credit managr. dc
about s1O0.o0o.00O worth Of business
4. year, of which s40.O0o,0O0 is in
'harge accounts. According to an
official of the Cleveland Retail Mer-
chants Board, about $50, 900 persons
IN Cleveland have charge accounts
with members of the board. He esti-
mates. however, that nearly one mil
lion individual buyers make use OF
these accounts.
Trend I'm Other Cities.
\ similar trend has been apparen.
in other cities throughout the coun-
try The increase in charge accounts G
IN many cases Is attributed by store
officials to the increased tendency 10
buy washing machines, vocuum clean
"rs and other labor-saving household
equipment, as we'll as pianos, phono-
-raphs and radio sets, on d part pay
ment plan.
Taking the country as a whole. 50
per cent of the representative re-
tatl merchants in all staple lines ex-
pect better business in the next
three months than In 1929. Sixty
light per cent of them have express
ID the opinion that prices will be
fairly steady as compared with last
years levels, Will 20 per cent ex-
pect increases and IL per cent pre-
coast, as perhaps is natural, is the
NJ t.ty