The Wilmington morning star., 1947-07-06
|Circus Tents, Crazy Commercials Aid Three CTS Get
Rid OF War Surplus Goods; Mortgaged Homes Al First
Nv ELIZABETH DUBOIS

os,o1us business valued now at an
.stimated 500, 600.
I'VE business of selling proper
Il aas no longer wanted by the gov
lament has provided a living for
,.nv veterans across the coun-
~, But Seattle's three CPS" as
49, business is named, stands out
one Of the largest and most
Conventional operations of its
& kind.
,ntward aspects of a circus-the
.ircus tents which house it, big,
~ "come-on" signs and slap
amy advertising. The owners,
L George La Maine, Don Wallace,
md Buford Seals often are dubbed
";,st a bunch of clowns" But
rost important to the three GI's,
neople spend their money here as
r,llingly as they do at a circus.
I'm George-I'm Don = I'm
p,ford--" that's the GTs folksy
,sIf.introduction to the public. On
] tho radio, it comes via an ear
r.cking singing commercial. In
tbe newspapers, 1t is accompanied
s,, ~caricatures Of the three which
m,ke them look as foolish as the
nr;nt which describes their wares.
The ads themselves probably run
INTO more competition with comic
trims than with other advertise
ments. ~
Ths three CTS tell buyers they
have a large shipment of pene-
rating oil 'mcre penetrating
than a glance from your mother
jn.law." Another ad which de-
.cribes them as Alaska outfitters
.nce 1916" Announces sleeping
bags-"how can such a sharp buy
No so doggone comfortable?"
One special advertised "advice
,iven free with each purchase less
Man one dollar" and "skabbahozs
-sleech framble on the triddle
,erf wat to every krallich."
Probably their most spectacular
rublicity stunt was an April fool
L ioke. The CTS stood on a busy
I street corner On April first at
tempting to give 80 one-dollar bills
u wary spectators. 1t took them
! about As minutes to dispose of the
~areenbacks. and a little boy who
walked away clutching his dollar
/ terselv expressed public sentiment
IS he said, Gee, these guys must
" crazy"
In short, the three CTS indicate
NAT business is just a joke. They
soncede they are considered
"s~crevballs," but at the same
time they say their advertising
has done what their first straight,
sober ads failed to do.
the GTs reason that at the
prices they can offer surplus COM
nodities, sales talk is not neces-
sary. Many customers. they say,
admit they never would have
thought of buying that sleeping
bag, and very likely never will
Use it. "but it is such a good
buy"
People just sell themselves on
cur merchandise" say the men.
Most of their business is done dur
Ing evening hours when men bring
NE whole family along and have
time to rummage at leisure.
The 27-year-old trio started bust
ness in January 1916 in a small
one-room building. Now their op-
erations are spread out under
three circus tents in different sec
tons of the city. They hope to
build a national chain of stores
selling surplus goods. Already
Ney have well-developed plans for
expansion into other northwest
cities. They have bought out a
dozen other not-so-successful sur
plus stores.
They said their success was a
matter of "back-breaking work.
and taking bigger chances"
George is a former army cap
tain who quit pre-law studies at
tie University Of Washington to
enter the army. At school he had
paid expenses with a side = line
business selling junk. J
Don followed his civilian occu-
patton o. mechanic while he was
In the army. When Buford joined
the navy, he gave up e grocery :,
store business he had managed
since he was 10 years old.
The tricks Of their trade '..were
just picked up along the way.
When n idea doesn't work, we .
quickly figure out something u.
I else" ,,
Circus tents, they say, are ideal ;
housing for their surplus wares. {
Commercials tell the public s'We
cont pay no rent because our
business is in tents" What they {
haven't told the public is that
ASIDE from keeping costs low, the
tent psychology serves as en- add
"a lnducement for people to drop {
IN, especially when the children
Are along. I
The ellis carry N business on I
me theory that three heads are |
oetler than one. Often. some of {
uelr p veteran employees also
are called in for their opinions.
Inc veterans got their start in {
BUSINESS by borrowing from trust {
ing parents. "All of the paternal t
aones were mortgaged at one
ume or another during the early I
cages they said. Now, however, /
ue CTS have offered unlimited r
'eolt with a Seattle bank. 8
Inc three have set a maximum 7
monthly salary of $3.50 for them 9
selVeS some of their employees
slso make this ''top." Remaining 6
fonts go back irto the business.
None of them owns a new car ,
MS personal use, but the bust a.,
seSS owns one, as well as an air. !
,,ane used Cor hopping to surplus .
'' Ne In all parts of the country. .
Inc three CTS are confident J
"sre ALWAYS will ha government