The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1931-11-19
THE SMALL TOWN DEPARTMENT
STORE

THE SMALL TOWN DEPAhlMENl
STORE
The first reaction to the above headline
will be to say that no small town has a real
department store
But is this true?
Let us see.
The department store most of us have in
mind is a large emporium under one roof
carrying varied stock segregated into de-
partments These departments usually in
clude dry goods Of all kinds, house furnish
ings, clothing, footwear, millinery, toys, or
namental goods, fancy work, and in the
larger stores, hardware and groceries.
Some of these establishments also have
restaurants beauty parlors and everything
one might wish to buy.
Wonderfully complete, you say; but look
over the list and see if you can find anything
that you can not secure right here in Ken
newick
The difference is that in one case all of
these lines are collected in one mammoth
store giving an idea Of immense variety and
unlimited selection; but in actual experience
this is not the case. In fact it often happens
that after you have run the gauntlet of floor
walkers and elbowing crowds and have then
tracked the thing you really want to it's lair,
you find the variety very limited.
In case of the small town department store
you find the various departments scattered
along street or two in independent estab-
lishments, each one specializing in certain
line and generally carrying more complete
and better balanced line than you will find
in the emporium that tries to handle evenly
thing.
In the small town, if you want a suit of
clothes, you go to clothier or tailor, men
who have usually spent a lifetime in this
line of merchandising and therefore are ex-
perts; if you want hardware or house furn-
ishings, you go to an establishment that
specializes in these things and which carries
complete stocks of reliable articles such as
it can sell and resell to the same customers
year after year; if you want a pair of shoes
you have the privilege Of shopping around"
among several dealers; if you wish to buy
dry goods, you will find in any small city
such as Kennewick two or more independ-
ent dealers with staple and dependable lines
and prices held well down by competition;
if you crave refreshments, the small town
has several restaurants; if you need gro
ceries, you will find neat well-stocked store
on nearly every corner, and so on right down
the list.
IF the matter is carefully examined from
a common-sense standpoint it will be found
that there is really no excuse for going to
the large city shop to buy ordinary variety
of merchandise unless one Graves the dis
traction of crowds and the noise and hustle
of the big town.
This is not trade at home sermon, but
merely an attempt to get the folks to see that
twenty stores operated by honorable and ex-
pert men, each specializing in particular
line, can serve them much better than big
mushroom establishment dabbling in every
thing and usually expert in nothing.
KenneWick land the same is true of other
progressive towns) possesses very excel
ent department store that can serve practi
cally your every need-and to visit the var
ious units you will need to do no more walk
ing than in shopping through ten-story
building.-Adapted from Arlington Times.