Evening star., 1932-10-16
KANSAS CITY AREA
TRADE IMPROVES.
Wheat and Cattle Prices OFF,
but Commerce and Real
Estate Are Stronger.
epecIal Dispatch to The Star.

1peCIdI DlSpdlCu W lie Stdis
KANSAS CITY, Mo, October 10
5NAN.AD.-A business survey here
notes no Improvement in cattle and
wheat prices. an apparent improvement
in wholesale. jobbing and rstall trade
and some activity in real estate.
Dollar sales of department stores in
Kansas City and the tenth district IN
creased about 33 13 per cent i'll Sep
tember over August. according to the
preliminary estimate of the Federal
Reserve Bank The normal seasonal
gain in September is about 20 per cent.
The sharp increase was largely account
ed for by the more favorable weather
conditions last month. Last years the
gain in September was only l8 per cent.
Compared with a year ago, September
sales declined u per cent in Kansas
CITY and also in the tenth district, the
smallest decline thus far this year.
Gain Over Last Year.
The manager of one of the leading
quality dry goods and departmenI
stores reported there was at least a III
per cent increase in transactions oul-
ing September over the same monlh
last year. 1t was the first increase IN
several months. he said, and apparently
was carving over into October Eacn
IIdnSGtllOu ASt' AAAO--N''
operating expenses are down.
The manager of another dry gooos
store found that the first 10 days OF
October had run slightly behind the
FIRST 10 dayS of October, 1881. but that
there had been marked improvement
over the three preceding months Whlcn
in that store had fallen badly behind
the corresponding months OF the pre-
reding wear, he said. large retail haro-
ware store found the last days OF sep
tpmber and the opening days OF Octo-
ber offering the best business OF SeVeral
months. 49,;
mess pickup might be because OF an
carly season, and only mean lull later
on. was not upheld by the experience
of the wholesalers, who were hn0lng
their greatest optimism in orders for fu-
ture deliveries.
Hardware Sales Gain.
The head of a large wholesale haro-
ware house said there was llttie I'LL
proyement in sales in September ana
Still greater Improvement in tie early
1iavs Of October, Collections were diff
c1Ilt he said. but the encouraging sign
Was that his statesmen were writing up
nice bunch of orders on Spring terms.
One of the most optimistic wholesale
men is sales manager of a grocery COM
pary. ..s., :sooeo
IN the last month or two" he said. up
TO FIVE weeks ago. We were working our
warehouse help only part time. NOW
we are working our full force all the
time to keep up with orders.
The wholesale garment and dry gooos
trade is experiencing a marked lnproVe-
Of leaders said.
Wheat Prices Down.
Pressure against wheat has forced
,A.ices to new low levels for the sea-
son and within to 9 cents OF the low
levels for all time established ABOUT a
wear ago. Except for an occasional car
of high-protein wheat, Kansas CITY IS
definitely under the 5O-cent level MOS
cash sales ranging from AZ to 40 Genus
Producers and dealers allke Ililu ~
difficult to interpret the SITUATION hopeI
fully. The belief is that 1unoanieilII1ni
s,Innlv and demand conditions flnaily
arn asserting themselves and that the
United states will be required to go 10
an export basis.
Prices of beef steers and fat lambs
STRENGTHENED moderately on the Kansas
CITY Market this week, While hogs'
c3WS and calves eased. ThlS week
hoo nrices are the lowest since June
and only about so or 60 cents above
the record lows of the present century
touched late in May.
Construction Shows Gain.
The Autumn weeks have been marked
nv \ slight upturn in building cen
struction. confined largely to SPECIAL
nurr0se buildings. No new apartment
ilnits have been added within the year
and a continued tendency toward more
than one family sharing single oWelilhg
llnits somewhat increased the nunoer
of vacancies.
Dwelling vacancies have been sur
prisinglv low over the period OF the iaSC
three years and the rentals OF detacneo
houses have been slow to follow receS-
sions in apartment rents.
New outstanding factors in real estate
Is a large increase in small store leases
and a fairly active demand for SUB
llrtan farms. Small storerooms, Tor
nerlv vacant. have been filled IN con-
siderable numbers, the leases being at
lowered rents or on a percentage basis.
New skyscraper office buildings nave
created a highly competitive condition
in that field. but one of the newest OF
the Office buildings. a 32-story struc-
ture. finished the first of the year. TINS
week passed the 10 per cent marx IN
occupancy.
Kansas City banks continue in a
strong, liquid position, but lending re-
mains restricted.