Evening star., 1933-12-31
AUTO AND RETAIL
SALES TAKE LEAD
Stimulate Other Trade Lines
and Will Continue Climb
in 1884.
(By Cambridge Associates,)

The 1888 recovery from depression
has been primarily a recovery Of con-
sumption and only incidentally a re-
covery Of production. ALI the efforts
Of the national administration have
| been primarily IN the direction of stim-
ulat1ng consumer purchasing power
That the measures taken in this direc-
/ ton have been at least tentatively sue
cessful is attested by the enormous re-
cuperative powers shown in 1888 by the
two industries which cater chiefly to
/ the wants and needs of the consumer
These two industries, the automobile
and retail merchandising lines, must
certainly rank ahead of the field in the
| vanguard of this 1888 recovery. To
them has been accorded the greatest
share Of the buying the American pub
lie had to do after four long years Of
scraping and saving and doing without.
Demand Pent-up.
This long-deferred and pent-up de-
nand which all through the depression
had been the subject of elaborate sta
tistical computation by those interested
in the automotive field, enabled the
automobile industry in 1888 to step far
out in the lead Of the industrial recov-
cry Net income of IL leading COM
panies 2snne in n. this his, group In the frst nine
lions of dollars as against a deficit of
nearly IS millions In the corresponding
period of 1e32-and this showing in
sales we're almost a stfied @ yatr 5y the bank mhsn
ing crisis and the events leading up
to 1t.
Looking ahead it seems reasonable
to SllDDOSP that the
try will continue in 1884 to supply much
OF the leadership which it has shown
in the last year. Although production
this past year should exceed 1892 fig
ures by at least so per cent. hardly a
dent has been made in the replacement
demand which was deferred through
the depression as cars were scrapped
faster than they were replaced. Today
the dealers wareroomS are virtually
bare of cars. so that the retail situa-
tion is very sound. The deprecated
markets. The industry looks forward
with confidence to even better things
in 1884.
Retail merchandising outlets, offer
ing multitudinous range Of consumer
necessities and luxuries, have also Sue
cessfully bid for large share of the
public's new purchasing power.
Store Sales Jump.
Mail order and chain store sales have
been particularly responsive to the
stimulating effect of increased employ
ment and wages. In the retail field
the profits in 1888 will probably not
show as spectacular a gain as in the
case of the automobile industry, but in
creased sales have certainly gone far to
create better feeling in business and to
start up the many factories supplying
retail stores and distributors Even
further gains are anticipated in 1894
Not only did these two outstanding
the climb upward in 1888. but they
managed to contribute Importantly to
the progress of other groups toward
profitable operations. Much of the ac-
tivity in the textile industry is trace
able to the demand from retail stores
for replenishing shelves that had been
virtually denuded in the first wave Of
consumer buying this Spring in antici-
patton of higher prices. Chemical man
ufacturers, in turn. enjoyed good de-
mand for dyes used in the textile in
dustry and the lacquers used In the
automobile industry. Steel companies
we're heavily dependent on takings Of
the motor industry for steel orders.
Auto accessories. tires. oils and gaso-
lines were In better demand In the
transportation of the hundreds of raw
material items entering into these va
rious consumers goods, the railroads OF
the country shared handsomely.