, 1925-09-09
OVERHEAD IS
LARGE BURDEN
SHOPPING IN BIG TOWNS CARRY
TREMENDOUS OVERHEAD
FACTS AND FIGURES FOR
CONSIDERATION
How much does 2 and 2 make?

that l. 10 d lutolloA VI elementary
arithmetic. When an out-of-town
merchant begins talking quantity
buying and quality selling" he
is trying to confuse you with high
sounding terms so as to make you
lose sight of the fundamental issue.
All you have to do in that case
is to get out pencil inc paper to
bring him down to brass tacks.
Figures are bound to tell the
truth.
What dc they show us?
Big town is 100 miles from Cody.
Other things being equal. the largest
store in Big Town can ave its GUS
toner more money than the small
lest store, and on the grounds urged
by our Big Town merchant GUAM
tity buying" and quality selling"
Just how this comes about is OBJ
vious-lower freights, cash discounts,
bigger assortments, lower prices,
quick turnover, smaller overhead in
proportion to each article, and so N.
The Big Town Idea
The Cody merchant can argue in
the same fashion, and it is just as
true here as it is in the big town.
Both are right-the merchant in
the big town, SO far as his custom
ers in Big Town are concerned, and
the merchant in Cody so far as his
customers in Cody are concerned.
But the merchant in Big town
can't expect his territory to include
Cody in his promise of benefit that
come to customers from buying at
his store. What would you say if
Cody merchants inserted advertise
ments in the big town papers 100
miles away and promised to save
money to the people there if they
passed by their own merchants, took
the train for Cody and bought of the
merchants here? You would call
them fools, if you didn't use stronger
language.
Yet the case isn't SO much differ
n the other way round.
Let's get down to figures.
Big City Shopping Costs
LIE us suppose hat Mrs. Smith
goes to one of the big towns to
shop. Her fare will be from 6 to
SIS by the very closest figuring, de-
pending upon how she goes. She
spends from half to a full day Of
more in transportation time alone,
and this time may be worth some
thing. She will no doubt have to
stay over at least one night and her
hotel bill will be SIS per day. No
doubt she will attend the theatre
at an added cost, according to her
idea of good seats.
Not a single article has beer fl
cured in and all his expense has
been incurred.
Therefore, to make the trip worth
while at all, she must buy a large
bill of goods The average family
is not in a position to do its buying
on this basis. You and | can't stock
up on winter suits and dresses this
summer, or, summer suits when 1t
is winter. If we have what we need
to wear. and just a little bit more,
we consider ourselves lucky. But
the trip to the big town means just
that sort of a buying Spree" We
buy more thar we need. We tie up
our money that might well be earn
ing us interest in the Cody banks.
Bargain Counter Lure
Furthermore, this kind of buyer
is also the victim of the bargain
counter" The very words are a lie.
Such goods are cheap for the very
good reason that the big town mer-
chant wants to get rid of them at
any cost. They may be shelf worn,
or out of season or what not, in
which case they would be high at
any price.
After you get back home, if you
are dissatisfied with some of your
purchases, you can't exchange them,
because the cost of another trip
makes that prohibitive.
If you have come from sue a trip
recently, price the things you bought
in the big town at the Cody stores
and strike a balance on the profits
and losses of the trip. That will
convince you beyond argument at to
why you should buy of the home
merchant.
Mail Orders Disappoint
If o have just received a bill
of goods from a mail order store,
subject it to the same acid test.
Figure your money order fee, your
postage, your freight and express
charges, insurance and the time you
wasted. Then take into account
breakage. shortage and recorder. But
most important of all, the illustra-
ton and description in the catalog,
except in the case of a few staple
and standard articles. led you to
expect better goods. and o are
disappointed. You keep them under
protest. or o exchange them and
incur further expenditure.