Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-01-05
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, January 5.-Business i
now down to brass tacks, and although
defiation has not been completed, the
outlook for 1882 is good for those wht
! accept things as they are and build
not on a foundation of high hopes, bu
on basic facts as they exist.
| This is the viewpoint of leading chair
| store executives, expressed in a SYM
postum prepared by the National Chair
Store Association. These executive:
| said:
Albert H. Morrill,, president of thu
National Chain Store Association
J "Forecasting is hazardous enterprise
| General business forecasting is as haZ'
| ardouS as any. There are no facts
visible today, upon which to base {
statement that business is recovering.
There is some evidence that in some
| lines business is not growing worse. De.
| f1ation has not been completed. 1t /:
possible that business will stage a par
| tial recovery without complete def1atiOn
| Confidence in some lines is returning
or at least lack of confidence is de-
Creasing This is notably so in the
| MID lie West in financial matters.
See Return of Prosperity.
There is not the slightest doubt but
that ultimately the country will recover
with or without recovery in the rest oil
the world The United States is rich
in material resources, in the intelli-
gence of it's people, in business inge-
nuity and in basic courage. 1t will
readjust itself to changed conditions
however. disagreeable or even painful
such a readiustment process may be
The readjuStment will take more than
few months, but while it is taking
place, methods are being improved
habits of hard work are being acquired
and means are being developed which
will make possible the greatest era OF
prosperity and development the coun-
try has ever known, once the readJuSt-
ment is completed"
Earl c. Sans, president of the J. c.
Penney Co.: Certainly we must find
in the new year certain definite i'm
provementS.. We have gone through
two years of depressed business. Out
Of this experience has come the realiza-
ton that we must accept things as they
are and build not on a foundation OF
high hopes, but on basic facts, as they
exist at present.
I'VE have been absorbing losses. The
most unfortunate man or business at
the present time is that one which has
tried to balance between hopes for
profits that might have been and fear
of total loss of what remains.
The most happily positioned is that
one which has accepted the inevitable
losses, but has consolidated what good
has remained out of the experience.
Such a one can face the future with
the assurance that there are no aCcu-
1atn nf
threaten future operations.
Business has, in general retreated to
it's secondary lines of defense and has
dug in. This is always a strong posi-
ton, because in it business forces are
consolidated Units are under better
control and better able to withstand
shock.
Thinking Forward.
"Those of us who will start to think
forward and not backward will profit
out of this change in attitude We are
out of the old positions. That is GER
tain. The thing to do is to make the
best of the new.
Price will be the strongest material
factor in keeping business going during
1882; courage and the willingness to &C
cept our own position will be the pSy-
Geological highlights.
THE extent to which the retail mer-
chant can expect business to come in
over his counters will depend entirely
upon the extent to which he is willing
to go in keeping prices down to the
absolute minimum.
This has already been demonstrated
in a forcible manner in varying lines
of merchandise, ranging from food to
luXurieS.
In the conduct of retail selling it
means that merchants must depend
upon lower prices stimulating more
rapid turnover They must look to
small profits on few turns. Such
merchants as have realized this truth
about the present buying attitude on
the part of the general public are seeing
their efforts produce results.
There must be a closer margin be-
tween the price the retailer pays to the
and the price he charges
to the consumer. The public is insist
ing on this. And the public is showing
that it will increase its volume of pur-
chases in direct proportion to increases
offered n values.
In many of our lines we are show
ing large increases in unit sales over
last year, where we have offered equiv
alent products at considerably lower
prices. Stimulation of volume pur-
chases will reduce current stocks and
provide an increasing flow Of new
The result will bs increased en-
ployment and the sterilization of retail
prices on a new basis
Ward Melville, president of the Mel
vile Shoe Corporation: The last two
years have tested brutally every girder
and span in the Countrys business
They have called forth all
Of the resourcefulnesS of management;
shown the folly of fancy theories and
beliefs with which we tlnSeled the
during the easy imitation
times. Now, looking ahead into 1882,
business is down TO brass lacks.
There has been a business depreS-
sion unparalleled in the history OF our
country, and whenever there is bust
ness depression people are apt to forget
there is such a word as optimism. There
are business men right now who are
positive that regardless OF what else the
New Year will bring, it will not bring
an improvement in retail business.
Removal of Obstacles.
with these 1 cannot quite agree. On |
the contrary, I expect the new year to |
witness very definite improvements in |
business based upon our experience of |
the past two years; based that is, upon |
hard facts, not hopes. Concerns which |
nave long since rid themselves of super |
1uouS, expensive functions, and t1gura- |
lively frightened their belts for leaner, |
1ard-tO-get business, VIII WIN patron !
age in 1882 in direct ratio to the sin |
cerity and effort they expend in selling /