Part 45 (2/2)

”It surely does,” he said, ”but, while we get a smaller net profit on each sale, we possibly exercise more judgment in buying than you do, as we see that everything we buy is a quick seller. That off-sets the increased cost of doing business.

”Another big advantage the chain store has over the single store,”

continued Roger, ”is that we have very little unsalable stock to dispose of. For instance, I have just had a lot of brushes sent me from one of the other stores. They cannot sell them, so, rather than have them sold at a sacrifice, the brushes were sent on to us. I am doing quite a big business in paint brushes--you know we specialize on brushes of all kinds, and I really think that already we are beginning to dominate that field in Farmdale.

”By the way,” added Roger, ”you ought to meet Pat Burke.”

”Pat Burke?”

”Yes, he is the manager of the new Woolton store here--awfully nice fellow.”

”When did you know him?” I said.

”Strange to say, he was a.s.sistant manager of the Hartford Woolton store when I was there, and I got to know him quite well.”

”I hardly like to call on him,” I said. ”Remember, he's a direct compet.i.tor of mine, and next door to me.”

”Compet.i.tor nothing,” said Roger good-naturedly. ”You are not compet.i.tors at all. You are selling different cla.s.ses of goods, and you ought to supplement each other.”

That was a new thought to me. I wondered if a five-and-ten-cent store was a hindrance or a help to an adjoining hardware store?

A man named Purkes ran a grocery store at the corner opposite Traglio's drug store. He was an undersized man and fussed and interfered with everybody else's business, and made a living chiefly because he hadn't much compet.i.tion.

About two weeks before, a salesman of cheap enamelware had come into town, gone to Purkes, and sold him two or three cases of ”seconds.”

Purkes thought he was a real fellow when he filled his window full of those seconds. The same week I was having a display of perfect enamelware. He put a price on his goods of ten cents each. He also had a big sign in the window, reading: ”Don't pay fancy prices for enamelware.

Purkes's cut-rate grocery store will sell you all you want for ten cents each. Pick them out as long as they last.”

Now, old Barlow always played the game square. Stigler was certainly a hardware man, and I could stand for his cut prices; but, when a grocery store came b.u.t.ting in, I felt mad, and I told Charlie Martin that I'd like to get Purkes's scalp somehow. Charlie suggested quite a good little stunt.

Three days after Purkes offered his enamelware I had a window full of--what do you think?--tea; in half-pound packets! And it was an advertised line, Milton's, which was a line that Purkes had sold for a long time! That tea usually sold for fifty cents a pound. I put a sign in the window saying: ”Why pay fifty cents a pound for Milton's tea, when you can buy it here for thirty-eight cents a pound, nineteen cents the half pound.”

That was exactly what it cost us. Martin had got hold of it for us from a friend of his in Providence, who was a wholesale grocer.

You really would have laughed to see Purkes come flying into our store about fifteen minutes after our window trim was complete. He reminded me of a wet hen who had had her tail feathers pulled out. He couldn't speak, he just sputtered and pointed to the window. After a minute I caught the words, ”Scoundrel!” and ”robber!” and ”unjust!” and ”report to the Merchants' a.s.sociation!”

I turned around and caught sight of Charlie grinning his head off. He pa.s.sed the high sign to me, which I understood to mean ”Let him talk.”

So I beckoned to Charlie to come over.

”This is the man who thought up that idea,” I said to Purkes. ”It's a good one, don't you think?”

Both Charlie and I saw that Purkes was going to explode again, so Charlie said:

”Now listen, Mr. Purkes. Do you think it is any worse for us to sell tea than for you to sell enamelware?”

”But that's just a job line I bought! Just the little I sell could not hurt you,”--then he added maliciously, ”unless, of course, you get fancy prices for your goods.”

I felt like throwing him out of the store; but Charlie ignored his last remark and said, ”That idea of yours selling enamelware was so excellent that I thought we ought to copy it. You sell hardware--we sell groceries.”

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