Show V PT t Vf V f TRADE AT HOME HONE PROBLEM THAT IS BROUGHT HOME TO COMMUNITY f Why Do Mail Mall Order Concerns Thrive 7 When Consumers Are Not 1 Benefited The Benefited The Home i Advertisement t t c The Increasing volume of business f which is being directed from local dealers to the bIg mall mail order houses Is threatening the prosperity of thousands I r of country towns and cities The IThe business business business busi busi- ness of these big concerns is multiplying multiply multIply- ling ing at an alarming rate and if the ratio ratio ra ra- o. o tio continues the ultimate te demoralization tion of business in many rural towns is a foregone conclusion says Edward EdwardK K Slater food commissioner of Minnesota Minnesota Minne- Minne sota BOta in the Retailers' Retailers Journal Chi Chi- cago Who suffers the greatest financially I It Is the business men of the ty qty Any disinterested person familiar famUlar with the ins and outs of the business will concede that the consumer Is not profiting at the expense of the home merchant If this were true the con- con consumer eumer sumer could not be blamed fo for taking the he best pest end of the bargain For the sake of the argument we will assume that the consumer Is receiving just as asgood asgood asgood good good treatment at the he hands of the mall mail order house as he does from his home merchant The loss to the merchant merchant merchant mer mer- It chant must be somebody's gain i r follows therefore that the mail mall order house proprietor is the only one who is b benefited But the question naturally suggests itself why does the business of the I mail man order house increase at such an alarming rate if the consumers are not being benefited This Is one of the greatest arguments advanced by the thes s advocates of the mail mall order business in the fact that 1 e sorer t the purchaser responds to advertising ng and d he he doesn't d eS like to do business b with witha f country merchant who went to sleep i a his business soon after he opened up and hasn't waked up yet That is the situation in a nutshell 1 The business of the mail mall order houses has been built up on advertising advertisIng advertis advertis- ing advertising advertising r My department t has been giving considerable considerable con con- attention to groceries shipped into the state h bv by mall mail order houses We have been trying to place before the consumers the fact that many of these goods are illegal under our our pure food laws and that this department has no jurisdiction over such shipments ship ship- ments We cannot punish such violators violators violators violat violat- ors and thus protect the consumers as we Are enabled to do when the goods are sold sold in inside the state It follows that this depart department as PL pI matter of course m ment t 14 desires sl S t to s see e goods only purchased purr pur pur- r chased ased through through h local dealers so that receive the protection protection all consumers consumers consumer will tion afforded by a strict enforcement of our pure food laws The he country merchant must do his duty if f h he desires s to comp compete te with the catalogue catalogue house ous He must beat him 7 with his own wea weapon o advertising He f too must have special prices on certain articles If he wishes to h hold ld the home homeL ti t trade Grocers and country merchants I who think they are aie so located that L i r 1 they they cannot advertise advertise successfully should study th the subject ct of advertising i There is is probably no store city or ort r. r whose business could not be t country advertised successfully if the proprietor proprietor proprietor etor only knew how and has the nerve nerver and patience to do it There are a few r merchants in remote localities country Ij mastered advertising so suet success successfully suc sue who have is t ji s cess fully that man mall order competition does not bother them This idea that tha long In m a town that tha fi you have lived so s f everybody knows y you u and you dont don't dontIS IS need to advertise is a mistake This advertising Indifference Indifference indifference I very indifference to ference to doing business the way business busi buss is ii r ness is done in this day and age what has enabled enable the mall mail order houses J to grow from mere nothing noth ao great lf concerns who can convince the thep i The merchant p t. i people of his section and keep them r r e T A a Y Yh t k- k t convinced that his store Is the be bee place to buy this and that article will not lose trade to t the mall mail order house Of course he cannot afford to get out outa a catalogue as as thick as a Bible but he can keep an advertisement in his local papers and see that it Is changed every week thus new bargains continually continually con con- before the th public He should also have a mailing list and send out outa a c circular rc lar letter at least once a month Nothing Is more discouraging than beginning an advertising nd campaign Results are almost Invariably slow at first It takes pluck you pluck you must keep atit atIt at atit it and master it Dont Don't look look upon your news country country news newspaper paper pap r as an object of charity There Is is not a single country newspaper in your state with a general local circulation circulation circulation lation which is not able to give fu full l value for money received The country papers can help you solve this question if if you will give them the chance |