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Show IiandTSstat CONVENIENCES FOR WOMEN WHO GET HUNGRY SHOPPING. j i i Places In Fashionable Stores Where Liinrhen Are Served t Buyer at Moderate Mod-erate Price It I Something of an Innovation, In-novation, lnt na Become Popular. Several years ago a big retail dry goods house triod the experiment of providing i a restaurant for its customers. It took j tip a largo section of one floor, and was ; fitted with polished hard wood tables. A space was reserved on the upper floor for the kitchen, and an army of girls was employed to act as waiters. The experiment ex-periment was a success almost from the start, as tho members of the firm knew ' it would be. Prior to that time customers had been interrupted frequently in the midst of their shopping by the necessity of going out to lunch. As there did not happen to be a good restaurant in the vicinity, this always meant a considerable loss of time, and, as a rule, the shopper would not return that day. If she desired to do ny other shopping sha would go to some store more convenient to the restaurant A reporter visited a number of these restaurants the other day. The one last referred to was found to be the most attractive. at-tractive. It is a large room on the second sec-ond floor of the building, away from the noise of trade, and is very nicely fitted op. There is a velvet carpet on the floor, and the furniture is all appropriate. appro-priate. A magnificent carved oak sideboard side-board stands in one corner of the room, and is made brilliant by handsome utensils uten-sils of chased and engraved silver and elaborate pieces of cut glass. The tablecloths table-cloths are of the finest linen. All the china and silverware compare in quality with those found in uny first-class restaurant. There is only one man in the restaurant and he is the cashier. MODERATE PRICKS. The manager is a woman and the waiters are all young girls. The person who selected these evidontly had an eye to the sesthetic, as they are all pleasant to look at. They wear uniform black dresses, with pretty white lace caps and aprons. The reporter was looked at with surprise when he came in, and the manager came np to him at once and informed in-formed him that gentlemen were not allowed there unless accompanied by ladies. An exception was made in his case, however, as he was simply looking for information. An idea of the prices can be obtained from this list of extras on the bill of whore she lunched. ' Jy opening a restaurant in the store, therefore, the firm was enabled to keep ite customers, and the latter were not interrupted so much in their buying. Furthermore, many persons came to the restaurant and were induced to purchase by the sight of the things around them, so that the direct profits of tho restaurant were only a small portion of the entire profits that came from it in indirect ways. The restaurant itself was an attraction. attrac-tion. It was large and airy, and a cheerful cheer-ful place to sit in. Shoppers who were tired out from standing around bargain counters or walking from one place to another found it very pleasant to come here and rest It often happened that ; the lunch was considerably prolonged by the chatting of friends who met at the tables. The food and the way in which it was prepared, did credit to the place, and the prices compared favorably favora-bly with the prices of the other articles fare-. Chicken soup, 30 cents; lobster a la Newburg, 30 centa; lamb chops, breaded, bread-ed, with green peas, 35 cents; chicken croquettes, with cream sauce, 40 cents; roast beef, 25 cents; roast veal, stuffed, 20 cents; roast turkey, with cranberry sauce, 50 cents. A notice was appended to the bill of fare to the effect that no extra charge would be made when one portion was served for two. The importance impor-tance of this was apparent when it was found that the portions were nnusually large, and that one was always large enough for two. Leading out of the restaurant res-taurant was a handsomely fitted writing room for the ' benefit of its patrons. Handsome polished hard wood tables and pretty little fancy seats were provided, together with all the little accessories necessary for comfort. One of the restaurants had a parlor adjoining it for the accommodation of customers. The prices at this restaurant were considerably below those of the first. Roast turkey was put down at 80 cents and roast chicken at the same. The other extras were: Clilery, 12 cents; Tokay grapes, 10 cents; pears or oranges, Scents, and cranberry sauce, 7 cents. All these restaurants do their cooking in ; the store building. New York Sun. for sale there. PROFITS FROM THE START. ! The restaurant had not been long in existence before the firm concluded to secure still further profits from it. They did this by establishing in a separate room a restaurant for their employes. The same kind of food that was served in the public restaurant was served to the employes, but at reduced prices. As nearly as could be figured the employes obtained their lunch at cost The only proviso made by the firm in regard to this was that those who took advantage of their restaurant would not be allowed to leave tho establishment until the day's work was over. The employes were not compelled to patronize the restaurant, res-taurant, and if they wanted to go elsewhere else-where were allowed the same time as , tk srmwn that the usual; but it was soon snown ia.it firm had made no mistake, because only a small number of the employes went outside. , . A number of other dry goods houses have established restaurants. One of these is very excellent, and compares favorablv with first-class restaurants elsewhere. The bUl of fare is elaborate, the service is very good, and every attempt at-tempt is made to please. At the same time tho prices are below those charged fur similar service in regular restaurants. |