White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1926-01-15

Tregoe, Executive Manager of the
National Association of Credit Men,
believes that the small retailer will
gain in merchandising virility in the
futue. At present he calculates that
one out of ten retail merchants
succeeds.
"Obsolescence is the price of prog
ress," Mr.. Tregoe said in his state
ment. 1T is folly to expend money
and time for the sale of goods and
utilities which have passed their day
and have been supplanted by some
thing better. However, 1 cannot be-
lieve that even in the rapid move
ments of modern commerce, the place
of the merchant, better known as the
middle man, has been superseded.
The merchant in the earliest days Of
commerce played an important part
in distribution and he was an econ
omy in getting goods produced in one
region for consumers located else
where.
"The middle man is, undoubtedly,
having rough shedding these days.
In the retail field there has grown
up form of competition that adds
difficulty to the enterpriser who is
seeking to satisfy the needs of indi-
viduals. In considering this retail
situation I have particularly in mind
the retail grocer.
"The chain store and the mail order
house are comparatively modern dis
tributive inventions By systematic
methods they have manifested ability
to decrease costs and to offer goods
at lower prices,-which methods old
style distributors failed to take adj
vantage of.
"The whole problem appears, to me
as one of well-regulated merchanr
dising. Constructive competition is
an incentive to progress. The retail
grocer by merchandising right will
undoubtedly hold his own and profit
from the competition. Efficient buy
ing and selling of merchandise is
much more difficult than is usually
applied to the business. 1t cannot be
left to mere chance or to slip-shod
methods. Good, keen competition en-
courages progress and leaves the
slow-moving enterprise in the lurch.
II do not expect modern methods
in distribution to do away with the
middle man. He fills an important
place in our business economy, and if
his position is properly conserved and
utilized, he can save costs in the
movement of. goods and get them to
the consumer at proper prices.
"The fate of the retailer, particu-
larly in the grocery line, is dependent
upon his observation of and response
to modern methods in distribution. If
he has the right perception of good
merchandising and sticks to his last,
there is no doubt but what he can
. hold fast and stand his ground in the
face of any legitimate competition
These innovations and problems in
our distributive processes should be
carefully observed by credit depart
ments. Upon them rests the great
responsibility of training merchants to
sell properly the goods which the
credit manager permits them to re-
ceive. Lack of skill in retail mer-
chandising permitted gap to occur
into which men stepped with the
ability and methods to control dis
tribution with intelligence through
an effective system"
Mr.. Tregoe said that the failure to
give the same concern to the re-
tailer's plight that is accorded in
dustrial problems accounts for the
increasing mortality among retail en-
terprises. He considers this turn
over in proprietors of retail stores
so pressing that it is time that the
manufacturer and wholesaler took up
some of the burden instead of allow
ing it to rest almost entirely upon
the retailer.
II am convinced that there are not
enough commercial credit managers
who try to ascertain retailers prob
lens before they place him on their
books" Mr.. Tregoe's statement con-
tinued. 1--WE are too inclined to trust
to chance for the liquidation of a debt.
This procedure may leave you a vic
tim of concerns merchandising
problems you failed to discover and
which only place it's credit in peril.
"This suggestion may not be very
welcome because it adds another task
to wholesale and manufacturing exc
cutives. But we cannot operate OH
chance alone. Communities into which
our merchandise goes, should be sur
veyed in some manner to determine
the consumption possibilities for the
goods we are trying sto sell, and tc
learn what are the sources of income