Evening star., 1942-04-05
Forward Buying
And Prices Add
To Trade Gains
Big Easter Volumes
Hard to EvoIuote;
Hoording Feared
BY FRANK MacMILLEN,

Dy uknGfVALAlLIvs
Wide World Business Writer.
NEW YORK, April 4.-Store trade
this Easter will run 10 to 40 per
cent ahead Of last years dollar vol
ume, a Nationwide survey today
disclosed.
But there are important "ifs" in
trying to tell Just what this first
wartime Easter In "A years means
to the businessmen and consumers
Of the country, reports from key
cities showed.
Principal uncertain factors, the
survey revealed, are the extent 10
which boarding and buying in an
ticipation Of possible later price in
creases have affected the total, and
how much of the higher volume,
m assured in dollars. reflected
boosted prices as compared with q
year ago.
The reports. from all sections Of
the country, showed widely varying
estimates of the extent to which
unnecessary or panic" buying had
affected the traditional Easter
splurge.
Try to Curb Buying.
1t also revealed organized efforts
in many sections to hold buying
within customary limits, and IN
some cases to cut buyers to less than
their seasonal norm, especially for
scarce articles.
The survey showed repeated In.
stances In which leading merchants,
singly or comparatively, had under
taken to discourage their customers
from buying things they did not
now need, and at least one instance
in which an important department
store had suggested that no buying
be done simply because Of the
Easter season. Present need should
be the criterion, this store adver-
tised.
Several centers reported their
stores showed unusual gains in de-
partments not usually benefited
much by the Easter season, such as
mems suits, housewares, hardware
and the like. Such buying, many
store executives thought, was a
rough index of the scare factor in
the Easter business. But, on the
other hand, many cities reported
their merchants appeared to be
getting little business beyond what
might normally be expected in the
holiday spending rush.
Merchants on the whole, the re-
port indicated, appeared to have re-
sponded well to the suggestions by
Better Business Bureaus, women's
groups and Washington authorities
that the scarcity appeal be elini-
mated from advertising. Even so,
there were scattered instances in
which 1t was reported that sales
people - sometimes dependent on
sales quotas for the amount Of their
compensation-had not followed too
closely the conservative tone Of their
employers advertising.
War Bonds Advertised.
From all sections came reports OF
the extensive use of Defense stamp
and bond advertising by stores, used
sometimes as hint and sometimes
directly suggesting an important
channel for the growing incomes
which many industrial workers were
getting out of the war effort through
higher pay rates, overtime and
steadier employment.
The reports showed what might
be called a normal" wartime pat
tern, in that cities with big orders
for the armed forces were running,
for the most part, ahead of last
Easter, both on dollar and a unit
basis, while those less affected by the
production struggle Jagged.
More than one center of war work
attributed better holiday business
directly to increased population
war workers brought into the areas
by arms plants or other concerns
dealing with the military or naval
forces.
Typical was the word from San
Francisco, reporting the greatest
Easter trade in history, in volume
and value. Said one department
store executive:
I'VE don't like 1t. It's bad for the
country, and it's going to make 1t
hard for us to stay in business. But
we can't do much about 1t. We ad-
vertise war bonds and stamps as a
hint Of something better to do with
extra money than buying something
one doesn't need now"
And another merchant in the same
city said:
We've had 1t for four months, and
we don't know what the dickens to
do about it except watch our adver-
tising. Our business Is running q
third bigger than a year ago."
Some Declines Seen.
On the other hand, New York
City, style center but little affected
by selling war-plant pay rolls, be-
lieved the Easter store take would
run behind last year, both in units
and dollars, and other centers not
dominated by war production in
some cases reported similar trends.
How the matter of prices bore on
the huge retail totals was less easy
to determine, for prices varied from
locality to locality, and from one
type of merchandise to the other.
But a recognized average Of re-
tail department store prices, which
embraces piece goods, mems and
women's wear and house furnishings
stood at 1119, as Of March l, COM
pared with 94.5 a year previous, and
there were indications that this
country wide average might not al
ways reflect fully local situations.
The chief executive of a leading
Boston store, who revealed that his
company's business was running
about % per cent above last Easter
period, added this percentage, in
dollar values, may be caused by In
creased prices"
He also said:
mo doubt, there has been some