Evening star., 1926-11-26
$5,544,OOO CHRISTMAS SAVINGS
TO BE DISTRIBUTED WEDNF"DAY
Holiday Sales Beginning Week Earlier This
Year-Post Office Cooperating
to Help Shoppers.

I schedule have been distributed here.
Already the public, profiting by past
aXper ences. is responding to the
early offerings in stores where Selec-
tion Of gifts NAV be made free from
the maddening crowd" A noticeable
increase in the number of shoppers
is to be seen in the downtown sec
ton, and they are stepping bit
livelier than at the same time last
year.
More Clerks Employed.
One merchant reports his Christmas
business now is 10 per cent ahead
Of last year. and others report con-
siderable advances also. Three OF
the largest stores now have their
sales clerks at maximum Christmas
numbers, and smaller institutions have
taken on from / to 10 per cent addi-
tional help. While the number OF
patrons today NAV not justify so large
an increase of clerks. managers point
out that new clerks must have sew
eral weeks experience in order to
give efficient service later in the sea
son.
Plans for placing on sale today com
plete Christmas stocks were made by
the shop early committee OF the Nler'
/ chants and Manufacturers Associa-
| chairman A series Of meetings have
been held recently with representa-
! tives of "a shops in conference. The
| post office committee, which has met
with the merchants, includes William
! II. Haycock. assistant city postmaster
| chairma II: Col G. l.. Tate Of the Penn
| sylvania avenue branch Office. Edgar
| Church. examiner of station; Fred
ericl Sillers, assistant superintendent
| Of mails, and H. f. Riley of the Con
necticut avenue branch.
| Ross 2. Andrews, president of the
| Merchants and Manufacturers AsSo'
| citation. in a statement today urging
| Washington to join whole e-heartedlv IN
| the early shopping plan. ascribed to
! the public itself the present completed
arrangements of the merchants for
placing their entire Christmas stocks
on sale the day following ThankSg1v'
| ing. The plan, he said. Is in response
| to the ever-growing demand of the
shopping public for an opportunity tC
do it's gift buying well in advance OF
the usual Christmas rush.
Some Buyers Always Late.
There are, however. two classes OF
| shops which seem unable to attract
! their Christmas buyers until the very
verge of Christmas. Thev are the
| jewelers. and the bookstore keepers
This is explained by the merchants
as being due in the first instance to
| the refusal or inability of the man
| shoppers, buying jewelry for their
| wives or sWeethearts to find time to
| select desired articles until the last
minute.
George W. Swift. manager Of one
well known bookshop. is nonplussed
| 1T Goo rNfI
just can't drag people to do their
book buying for Christmas until the
last minute" he says. I'VE now
have doubled our sales force and have
our entire stocks of books on hand
and people aren't buying yet. They
| come at the last minute, get their
feet trampled on in the crowds. their
hats crushed--and often are told the
books they want are sold out"
Savings Paid Earlier.
Edward d. Shaw. secretary Of the
association. points to the earlier dis
tribution of the Christmas savings de-
positS by local banks as an indica-
tion of the demand for earlier shop.
ping on the part Of the shoppers them
selves. When the savings plan first be-
came popular a few years ago, he
says, it was the universal custom to
make tne annual ulSlrlDuLlOn OF this
money on December 16, or even later.
A survey Of the operations in many
cities of the country, however, now
shows that the funds will be distrib-
uted this year in virtually all cases
about December /.
Bankers have been quick" he
said, "to respond to the demand of
their depositors in these clubs for an
earlier distribution each year. The
depositors found that where distribu-
ton was delayed until December Is
or later they were losing the best of
the Christmas shopping opportunities.
Their money was not available until
the merchandise stocks in their city
had been somewhat depleted, and
they were forced to compete with the
tremendous crowds which thronged
the stores during the latter part of the
Christmas shopping season.