Evening star., 1925-04-10

son, president of the +. w. Wool
worth Co., as he sat in his office, prob
ably the most magnificent business
office in New York. on the twenty
fourth floor of the Woolworth Build
ing, in the heart of New York City.
The chain store idea is fundamen-
tally sound because such an organl-
Zation eliminates many overhead ex-
penseS. so fatal to so many small
businesses Cash sales. no credit. no
delivery, cut into overheads enor-
mously.
Its concentrated purchasing pow
er results in cheaper prices. Let me
give you an example. Several years
ago Mr.. Woolworth saw an attrac-
tive pocket knife, retailing at 10
cents 1t was made in Germany.
Later when he went to Germany, he
asked the manufacturer there his
wholesale price. 1t was several times
ten cents Mr. Woolworth suggt sted
doubling the order and the manutac-
turer quoted a price of Is cents. Then
Mr. Woolworth suggested an order
which would keep the factories going
day and night The manufacturer
the II quoted price of cents.
II Buyers for stores.
For our 1920 stores we have 80
national BUYERS. One buyer and his
assistants give their entire time to
the purchase of one staple article
candy, for instance. We purchase
more than $50. 900, 900 pounds Of candy
in a year This candy is distributed
throughout our stores and sold Tor
less than most wholesale factories can
make it for. Why?, Larger buying
power makes for cheaper prices, but
not for cheaper goods.
Il n tn a
2 500 different articles which we sell"
continued Mr.. Parson, land one can
see the advantages of such united
action"
Savings in Standardization.
few wears ago only the five and
ten cent stores and cigar stores were
chain owned and operated NOW we
find drug stores. grocery stores nat
stores clothing stores. restau uraht Is
and even department stores ueNelop-
ing into chain lines.
And while on the subject OF large
buvine." continued Mr.. Parson, in ms
nleasant. casual way, Il want to pay
nv respects to Secretary Herbert
Hoover and his department FOR the
work that has been originated there'
tending to eliminate waste III ihuuo-
try. remember only a lie" years
ago when there were as many as %
different kinds of talcum powuer Oh
fered TO us for sale, ana ABOUT dS
n.nv kinds of screwdrivers and ham
mers All these different styles. and
designs meant just one thlng-more
.oynense to manufacture. more over
heads. and. ultimately. more cost TO
,bo consumer We set about ellml-
mating for our use all but very rev
designs in each artiCle-just what MT.
Hoover Is trying to do for all manu-
featuring activities. The results were
astonishing.
Uow Elimination Helped.
"In what way did such elimination
helm you in the retail business L
asked him.
Ten years ago we were turning our
goods over about once every t"o
months. or six times a year
Now we are turning our stock over
once in nearly every SIX weeks, or
about eight times a year rms
speedins UP the turnover is largely
dra to simnlifying our stock of goods.
Cur profit per purchase averages ohtS
a bout a half a cent. So you see what
sucb an accomplishment meant Tor
the organizations
.'Can the chain store sell as sue
cessfully in the large city as IN tue
smaller" j asked?
Human nature is the same IN the
big city as in the small he repIleo
quietly. People go where theS can
get the most value for the money.
0ur business shows that our store on
Eifth avenue in New York is just as
successful as one located in rhe coal
mining sections of Pennsylvania. ot
conrse we know what the customers
of our different stores want, ana we
aim to supply those wants.
Avoids Smaller Towns.
"The +. W. Woolworth Co. does
mot omen any stores in cities Of less
than 5000 people. Below such pop
ulation, by careful experiment over
MANY wears, they have found out that
the, volume of sales is not large
enough TO carry the overheads, based
on the principle of big sales and small
nrofits. But every city in Canada and
the United States having popula-
tion of 5000 or more has Woolworfh
stores"
How are you able to maintain
standard prices of and 10 cents for
all your articles indefinitely. when
costs vary so widely?" 1 asked him.
1--WE meet that difficulty by long
time contracts" replied the store
magnate. MoStlS oil VI oui m
mas goods for 1925 were contracted
for in November, 1924. We now sup
n1y more than half of the Christmas
tree decorations purchased in the
I-nfted States BY such contracts We
are able to plan one. two ana some
times three years in advance.
"While it is true" continued Mr.
parson. that we purchase millions
of dollars worth of foreign sooos, III
the aggregate the amount is small
nrobably not over ) per cent IN value
of the total sales of our stores. Nine
tv-fiye per cent of our sales are goods
r,.de either in Canada or the United
States.
E.vor.5 Poeitfon of United States.
'"There are some foreign articles
such as German dolls, on Whlch the
tariff is too high" said Mr.. Parson,
ran,yinp to a question as to whether
he was in; favor of a protective tarlf.
"Rut I am for a protective tariff
Today wages in Germany are -
week In America they are almost
that much per day. The pride OF
America is to keep her labor on a
biph prosperous standard of living.
The more money labor has the more
prosperous the country will be.
Here the great merchant became
reflective.
II wonder if some of US really ap-
nreciate our fortunate position? Our
national income for 1924 was about
$50. 900, 100000. And our net income
for the same time-our savings
amounted to approximately $11,0G0,-
600. 600. No nation in all history ever
approached such prosperity. Our saw
ings for 1924 are equal to more than
those of all the European countries
combined, and Europe has four times
as many people as we have. RMS vast
saving was accomplished in addition
to paving almost $s,oo0,0o0,0o0 in
+axas for Federal. State and local