Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-19
SUBURBAN retail.
/ STORES BOOMING
National Dry Goods Men Re-
port New Tendency in
Merchandising.
BY !. c. R0YIE.

Special Dispatsh to The star
NEW YORK. january 19.-Thc ire
mendous volume of retail dry goods
sales, with c0rrespoudinGly heav'
wholesale business. shows no signs OF
slacleninc. according to delegates tc
the National Wholesale Dry Goods
convention. now meeting here. But
the dry goods business is showing
some decidedly new tendencies.
one of the most important of these,
the wholesalers say, is the develop
ment of the suburban and rural town
department stores. The merchandising
space of such stores has increased at
least 81 per cent in the last ~
wears, according 1" experts in dls-r1-
hutton Of goods. They credit the au-
tomobile and the bus with RESPONSE
bility.
Buy on Good Terms.
Suburban and rural stores have
grown until they can buy on practi-
Cally the same terms as Il department
store in q large city. If they cannot
do so individually, it has become Gus
1pmary for several Of them TO com
hine. They have far smaller over
head then the city store, with smaller
rents and lower wages. Consequently.
they can afford To employ buyers of
the highest tyne. As a result. their
patrons are often able TO buy identi-
cal goods from them cheaper than
they can he purchased in the larger
metropolitan stores. In fact many
retail buyers shop the big stores for
goods and prices and 90 their buying
at home.
Wholesalers Complain.
WhOlcSa lerS continue to complain
Of the "hand-to-mouth" buying poll
cies of the retailers, hut many of them
went right out from meetings At
which such protests We're voiced and
conducted buying of their own on eX
nctly the same policy. The far-sighted
wholesalers in general agree that the
policy is a permanent one.
Many Of the wholesalers are sharp
l. divided as 10 the benefit or detri-
meut OF frequent style changes. The
fare in WUmen'S skirts is believed by
many TO have caused q decided de
crease in the buying of piece goods
With the old straightline silhouette
not so much material was used, but
with a 54-inch width fabric. it was
only necessary to run n seam down
the front TO form q skirt The skirts
with pleats, flares, folds and godets
lend themselves less easily to home
dreSSmaking.
Wool Goods Discussed
While wholesalers We're discussing
how they could change women's
styles. manufacturers and retailers
listened with considerable amuse-
ment. The latter maintain that the
only people who can change women
styles are women, and point to the
disaster which followed those mills
which chung TO ginghams and tried to
force Bingham styles when the pub
lie demand was for silk and silk mix
lures
While rayon Is absorbing the atten-
ton of many of the wholesalers. others
are not oblivious of the possibility Of
synthetic wool. The wool growers now
IN session at Boise, Idaho, seemingly
are little alarmed over the poSsibili-
ties. according to dispatches from the
West today. This perhaps is because
the synthetic woods are better adapted
10 use in carpet manufacture and
other lines where very coarse grades
Hre used than in competition with the
liner grades produced by the Western
growers.
Many wholesalers predict lower
prices for wooden fabrics when the
heavyweight lines for next Fall are
opened shortly. Some go so far as to
predict drops of , to 10 per cent
These cuts, however. if they come, are
relied on TO spur buying and put the
industry in better position.
(Copyright 1920