New Britain herald., 1925-11-09
Mercantile Bureau Head Reports

f Mercantile Bureau Head Reports The report ot George H Dyson,
 chairman of the mercantile bureau
 was as follows: i '"The year l9o4-95 of the mer-
 cantile bureau has, In my estima-
 ton. been one Of the most worth
 while since its organization. Many , things of vital interest 10 mer- | chants and the general public as a
 whole have been taken up for con- | sideration. and, as result, kind
 Her feeling and better character of
 merchandising has been created,
 "One of the first items consider.
 d by the mercantile bureau dur i ing the year was the matter Of |
 postal service. Some revsions were |
 made in the schedule. with the CO., |
 operation of Postmaster Erwin, re-
 sulting in considerable hetterment
 "Believing in the necessity Of having some insignia for store
 fronts and office doors which
 would indicate that the holder was
 member of the Chamber, de-
 sign committee was appointed who
 initiated a contest for the most
 practical and attractive display,
 Following the selection of the win
 ming design. the committee was au-
 thorized to expend Q sufficient sum
 of money to have these placed in
 docalcomana form and located In
 each members office or store.
 Upon the suggestion of Mir. N. z. Avery and a special committee
 of the American Legion, the hu-
 rcau took up for discussion the ad-
 visibility of arranging uniform
 decorating system of flags. The
 plan suggested by the American Legion was not met with exact ap- proyal. The contract wAs awarded ; to Mir. Eddy, of the Eddy Awning Co.,, for the placing of these flags twenty-five feet apart throughout the entire business district. The
 first exhibition of these flags was
 made on Decoration day and proved very attractive.
 Considerable activity was also
 taken in the shop early" cam
 paign for Christmas week and beneficial results were unquestiona-
 ply obtained.
 Throughout the year, a cam paign has been held along the line
 of truth in advertising and agcn- cios such as the federal trade regu- lating body have been utilized 10 carry this matter through.
 Uniform hours, as in the past, received considerable attention. A rather drastic recommendation was made hy the uniform hours committee. however, in that 1t was suggested that the stores close on Saturday at o'clock, remaining open on Friday until g o'clock, This recommendation created con- siderable discussion and a referen- ] dunn was found necessary to be forwarded 10 all merchants. The
 result of the referendum indicated = the desire of the merchants to re- l main upon the old basis
 f At the suggestion of the mayor. V the matter of Sunday closing was = brought to the attention of the { board. In order to get a real opin- q ion expressed which would be some thing to guide the board. meet o ing of all merchants was held to discuss this problem, the consensus being at that time that such a ., movement should be executed, and :, that the mayor should be author
 i2cd to instruct the prosecuting st-
 torney to enforce the statute as 1t
 exists. This matter, however, was
 not thought well of by the city ad- / ministration and the matter was al-
 lowed to drop until the present ' time, when there is a movement e afoot to use the precedent estab- o nshed by Plainville and use the au- c thority invested in the police de- '- partment to bring about the de- 't sired end.
 Z The merchants of tho city were l. invited to participate in fund It which was being collected to tigh' Is the increase in freight rates whicl ' WIS btlUE lullldltu lN tllC Ao'Al H1 l. carriers. As a result ot this solici' IT tation, $500 was collected from tn, l. merchants and the case is now ir
 progress, the chances of winning l. materially incerascd ny the interes a shown by the merchants, manufac l. turers, and citizens,
 ,e Since the beginning cf the year r. the mercantile bureau has been eX ar tremely diligent in living up to th' "A bylaws which prevent advertising ,r in publications of less than twelv' ,l issues. A number of requests haV' - been submitted and it has been tn ,. belief that q deviation from the rul E would cause considcrahIe embarrass 'S ment in preventing tr" general DO 'e licy from being actually enforced. 'o Perhaps one of the most out or standing things accomplished dur CT ing the year was tho well-planne C. program for betterinE windows an nd Increasing their merchandise value 1n The program started with trip [ e. Harrison \. J. by some 27 mer -st chants and business men to inspec C. the lighting institute operated un lis der the supervision of the Ediso or lL.amr Works Of thc General EleC .o Uric Ch The week prlor and durln