Evening star., 1933-06-11

consuming citrus fruits from zpartic-
ularly charmed spot, sausage from man
icured hogs or dairy products from cows
whose contentment passeth understand
ing.
Not only have the selling cooper
atives served TO eliminate the middle
man by selling, in many cases, direct
TO consumers, but the buying cooper
atives have done likewise. Consumers
co-operatives, exercising q strong sbu--
ing power, have been able to deal direct
With manufacturers and demand prices {
ordinarily charged to jobber or whole
saler in the expectation that those !
middlemen would take their profit en-
route
Middleman Has Definite Place.
In the field of manufactured goods
the factory type of advertising
has enfiladed the middleman. Today
the woman can procure a new dolman.
pafetot or tippet direct from a gar
ment factory. while the man has the
same advantage. Almost any man with
known place of habitation or for
warding address is in almost constant
receipt of appeals from shirt factories,
necktie fabricators, hosiers and so
forth to take advantage Of their direct
sales. There is scarcely any line Of
goods from cradles to caskets which
cannot be procured direct from the
maker There has even grown up q
trade press devoted to direct sales.
In terms of money involved, the auto
mobile industry leads, but that Is be-
cause of the large unit price. Egg
beaters and truSses probably sell just
about as well but do not command. as
much money. While wholesalers were
selling only s225 .265 $50 worth of auto.
mobiles to the public. the factories
themselves were selling $238 ,692, ,686
worth. Food products rank next in vol
ume of money concerned. While middle
men wholesalers were disposing Of
s72, 2,297 ,870 in cakes and ale and other
viands, producers were selling $93 ,545,-
lat worth direct to the consumers.
To what extent manufacturers OF
patented mechanical goods have elimir-
ated the niiddleman is revealed by
striking figures showing that while the
middlemen were selling SIS, 717,000
worth, the factory-to-user direct sales
methods was disposing of SAL 49,, ,604-
more than twice as much.
The middleman doubtless will long
continue to occupy place in American.
business While the chain stores have
eliminated great many wholesale
middlemen through buying In huge
quantities from producers and selling
In their own retail establishments, the
independents In such lines as groceries
and drugs continue in business. The
personal touch in the service of the in--
dependent will long be in demand. all
the surveys made to date show. One.
type Of chain store which has been
growing Of recent years is the chain
shoe store operated directly by manu-
facturers, and this means elimination
of both wholesaler and retailer. AL
though chain stores undersell inde-
pendents from to 10 per cent, the
independents provide delivery service
and, often, q more intimate knowledge
of customers wants. Moreover, chain
stores are likely to be less hospitable
to loafers, and it ought to be WORTH
something to the occasional custoFnet
to have hangout. -.
The chances are that the American
people will conspire to keep the middle
men in business and not permit all
merchandising to be us1rped by direct
sales because of the necessity Of pre-
serving that prime creator Of folklore.
the travelling salesman. How else could
the Nation keep abreast Of the latest
story about the farmers daughter!