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WHAT ATLANTA MANUFACTURERS AND JOBBERS ARE DOING
MIKE PROGRAM
HIM
ILL RETAILERS
Topics of Practical Value to Deal
ers Are To Be Discussed at
Convention.
PARLIAMENT TO BE FEATURE
Informal Discussions at Each
Session Give Chance for Each
Man to Air Views.
"Buying:,” "merchandising as a de
veloper of character,” “when to hold
special sales”—these are three of the
Interesting topics to be discussed
during the Southern Merchants'
Convention, August 5-15, inclusive. '
After hearing suggestions from re
tailors all over the Southeast, the
program committee of the Atlanta
Merchants and Manufacturers’ Asso
ciation completed its work, and Sat
urday announced the outline of the
discussions which will be held the
first four days of the meeting.
The committee says it had in mind
a desire to bring up the most inter
esting topics possible, and also to give
an opportunity to all those not on the
list for formal discussion. Therefore,
much of each day’s session will be
devoted to an “open parliament” in
which everyone will have a chance to
debate.
At the same time the entertain
ment features were announced. They
include two theater parties, one Au
gust 5. and the other August 11; a re
ception August 7 at the Piedmont
Driving Club; a barbecue August 13
and a ball game August 15.
In presenting its report, the pro
gram committee gives special thanks
to J. W. Vaughn, of Cartersville, and
R. <>. Crouch, of Griffin, for assist
ance.
The program follows:
Tuesday—" How can merchants, land.
lords and bankers best direct their in
fluence toward securing a greater di
versity of crops?"
"The marketing of overplus of grain."
“Cattle and hogs as a by-product."
"The greater stability of credit re
sulting.’’
Thursday—" Merchandising both as a
legitimate means of livelihood and as a
developer of character and mental
vigor.”
"Buying."
"When and how to buy"
"Benefits of buying often and accord
ing to active needs.”
“Keeping the money at home by giv
ing preference to home manufacturers
where all things are equal.”
“Keeping up sales and keeping down
accumulations of stock.”
“Ascertained cost vs. estimated cost.”
“Proper depreciation of hard stock at
Inventory period.”
“Disposing of slow stock.”
“Special sales —when and how to open
them.”
Friday: “Store Discipline and Man
agement.”
“Store help—how to select and train.”
“How to create and keep up enthu
siasm among the store force.”
“Courtesy as a business asset.”
“Proper accounting methods a prime
factor in the success of a business.”
“Credits and collections.”
“Can a merchant afford to imperil his
capital by failure properly to Insure his
Mock?”
“From the bankers’ standpoint.”
“Could not betterments, such as are
suggested by these discussions, be most
readily brought about by local organi
zations of merchants’ associations?”
Committees follow:
Committee on Program—Boiling H.
Jones, chairman; H. E. Choate, R. O.
Crouch. Griffin: C. TV McClure. E. G
Thomas. J. W. Vaughn. Cartersville.
Committee on Entertainment—-Willis
E. Ragan, chairman: Preston Arkwright,
W. J. Blalock, Beaumont Davison, H. C
Fisher, Louis Gholstln, Frank Hawkins,
Clarence Haverty. Clyde L. King. Gor
don P. Kiser, R. F. Maddox. T. D. Mea
dor, H. Y. McCord. J. K. Orr, Jr., E. L
Rhodes, Meyer Regenstein, J D. Robin
son, C. I. Ryan, w. A. Speer, W. O.
Stamps. T. N. Stewart. S A. Swann.
R S. Wessels, H. B. Wey, W. H. Wyatt,
W. A. Ward.
Committee on Baseball—H. S. Col
lingsworth. chairman; Lynn Fort, J. R
Little, E. M. Hudson.
Committee on Theater—Meyer Regen
stein, chairman; L. E. Floyd, E. G
Thomas, Jerome Silvey.
The Open Mind is the Saving Grace. The fellow who hasn’t got anything to learn is hopeless.
You may be a first-rate merchant with a good, smooth-running business and a clear notion of how to handle your proposition.
I
But you can’t argue that there isn’t somebody else who can give you points somewhere along the line.
You may have won your merchandising laurels, but don’t forget that you can’t keep them fresh if you rest on them.
Keep your mind open to the New Idea. It will revive and refresh and inspire you to bigger things and better achievement.
If your desire is to be a bigger merchant doing a bigger and better business, and growing constantly in efficient service to your community
and to yourself,
COME TO THE SOUTHERN MERCHANTS CONVENTION
i ATLANTA - - - -- -- - AUGUST 4 TOl5
Permanent Exhibit Now Assured;
Long Campaign Near Culmination
Speeches of Men Who Studied
Possibilities of Plan Stir Their
Hearers to Action.
“Atlanta citizens do not know what
is made in their own city.
"Southern merchants who come to
Atlanta do not know the extent of
the city's manufactures.
“The nation in general never
thinks of Atlanta as a manufacturing
center.
“All this must be changed. There
must be systematic exploitation of
Atlanta's factories. The future
growth and prosperity of the city
depend on this factor more than on
any other. One of the best means
of educating the public to Atlanta’s
importance as a manufacturing cen
ter is to maintain a permanent ex
hibit of the goods made here.”
With this message ringing in their
ears, 100 Atlanta manufacturers, ban
queting at the Hotel Ansley Thurs
day night, decided to undertake the
establishment of a permanent display.
Twenty-three manufacturers signed
agreements to take space In the ex
hibit hall. More have signed since.
For the purpose of handling the ex
hibit a Fulton County manufacturers’
association will be formed this week.
The scope of this association is to be
broad. It will endeavor to safeguard
its members from ill-advised legis
lation. It will wrestle with trans
portation problems, welfare of labor
and other questions of vital interest
to manufacturers.
Four sites for the permanent exhib
it are offered, each within five min
utes’ walk of Five Points. These are
for leas. , for sale, or lease with privi
lege of purchase. These offers will be
acted upon within ten days.
Campaign Now On.
From this time forward a year of
preparation will culminate in a
whirlwind campaign of activity.
Forceful, Indeed, were the Infor
mal talks made at the banquet. The
men behind the project have spent a
long time in study of its possibilities.
They are very much In earnest. They
truly believe that nothing so impor
tant for the development of Atlanta
has been launched in many years
This enthusiasm, restrained for so
long, found vent when they rose to
make the speeches which should "get
action." If they failed to convince
their hearers, all their work was
wasted. They knew it —and they did
not fall.
"One of the big things such a per
manent display does is educate th
children,” said Brooks Morgan. "In
Cleveland It is regarded as a valuable
supplement to the work of the school*
In teaching the children economic and
Industrial subjects. What this means
in dollars and cents to the exhibitors
to have the future buying -public in
Cleveland fully awake to the variety
and merits of homemade goods, you
can see for yourselves.
City Needs Manufacturing.
“There is a limit to Atlanta’s
growth as a jobbing and distributing
center. Almost every great concern
In the United States has representa
tives here. Atlanta already supplies
its territory well, and some territory
which belongs to its neighbors. There
is a limit to this development, I say,
and the maintenance of real estate
values, the growth In population of
the city, its prosperity, depend abso
lutely upon the development of our
manufactories. We have 600 factories
now. I doubt if we need more. What
we need is Jo make these 600, each
and every one, big, strong concerns.
“I do not know of a company which
will benefit less than mine from an
exhibit. .My interest is not selfish. I
sincerely believe this is necessary for
Atlanta.
"Our Idea is to have exhibits, as
many and as attractive as possible,
grouped effectively under one roof. A
manager should be in charge. Let
VOLLMER MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Moore Building
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
MAKERS OF FINE JEWELRY
Special Designs in Platinum
Engravers Diamond Setters Watchmakers
Specialists in Jewelry Repairing
WORDS WHICH STIRRED
ENTHUSIASM FOR SHOW
“All the machinery, all the
enthusiasm, and all the push of
the Chamber of Commerce will
be behind the launching of the
permanent exhibit. ’ ’ —Wilmer
L. Mocre, President of the
Chamber of Commerce.
“I firmly believe a perma
nent exhibit will bring to At
lanta more merchants and
more business than all the
other things we have done put
together.’’—Brooks Morgan,
Chairman of the Exhibit Com
mittee,
“Five years ago, you could
sell solid carloads of one line
to Macon and Augusta. You
can not do it now. This plan
will enable you to make up
mixed carloads. Other cities
are doing it. Atlanta must,
not only to get more, but even
to hold what she has.'’—Boll
ing H. Jones.
“The man who makes good
products and doesn’t adver
tise is like the man who
winks at a girl in the dark.
He. knows it, but she doesn’t,
and it doesn’t get him any
where."—C. S. Dobbs.
“Agitation about the smoke
nuisance makes me tired. I
wish to goodness some one
would turn 500 more smoke
stacks loose on us. I’ll war
rant there’s not a man in town
who could write a list of sev
enty-five of the hundreds of
articles made in Atlanta.’’—
Forrest Adir.
him show visitors through. If a
visitor manifests interest in one line,
or several, let him telephone at once
to the manufacturers of these lines
to semi a salesman. I believe, too,
that manufacturers in the outskirts
of the city will find it profitable to
use the exhibit building for their
downtown office. This is done else
where with profit.
“Atlanta should have four times
the payroll it now has. This is the
way to go about it.”
Evansville’s Experience.
Bolling H. Jones told of the ex
perience of 32 furniture manufactur
ers in Evansville, Ind., who put up a
building and displayed their lines in
it, keeping the ground floor for their
offices. They find it easier to get
prospective customers to look at their
wares, and also find the selling cost
cut to 3 per cent.
“That convinced me," said Mr.
Jones. "Did any manufacturer here
ever sell goods for 3 per cent mer
chandising cost? This argument
alone seems to me unanswerable."
He spoke of the changes which have
come about in the Southern field
within five years. No longer is it
possible to sell a merchant a full car
load of one line. Therefore, he ar-
HEARST’S AMKKH’AN, ATLANTA, GA., SUNDAY, JULY 0, 1913.
Atlanta’s Future Absolutely De
pendent on Building Up Fac
tories, Experts Declare.
gued, the exhibit will be valuable in
getting buyers to make up mixed
carloads of Atlanta-made goods.
Other cities, rivals of Atlanta, are
doing this, he said, and Atlanta must,
to keep what it has, to say nothing of
expanding.
"Advertising no longer is a matter
of buying a few Inches of newspaper
space, asserting through this space
that ’John Smith makes good
beds’," said C. S. Dobs. "Advertising
Is the science of creating a demand.
Publicity is the cheapest known
method of selling goods. It may be
newspaper publicity; it may be bill
boards; it may be an exhibit of the
kind you are considering. It may
better be all three.
Like Shop Windows.
"1 believe this exhibit will have the
same effect as the Whitehall Street
windows. A man comes downtown to
buy a pair of shoes. As he -walks
along the street, he sees hats, neck
wear and walking sticks displayed.
These remind him that he needs such
articles. The result is that he buys
more than the shoes he set out after.”
Forrest Adair has a "punch” when
he talks.
"I am selling a home below the Fort
to a family which consists of father,
mother and seven girls. The father is
a wagon-maker. The seven girls are
employed in seven different factories
in Atlanta. Wouldn’t you rather buy
the things these girls help make than
some product of a New England
sweat shop?
"Yet I talked to a bank director
to-day who did not know that car
wheels are made in Atlanta, and who
thought that the famed Atlanta shoes
really were made in Boston and sent
here to be sold under the local label.
Interests Here Diverse.
“When the bottom falls out of the
iron market, Birmingham and Pitts
burg hang crape on the doors, and
send flowers to each other. Do we
care? We do not. Two or three of
our plants suffer, but the hundreds
of others go on. and business in the
aggregate shows little contraction.
“As a man who earns his very
bread from the growth of Atlanta,
and who owes more of that bread to
you manufacturers than to any other
class, I want to make it as emphatic
as I can that you must build up At
lanta’s factories if you wish to see
her continue to grow."
Rome, Ga., Exhibitors
Sign Up for Space
Rome. Ga.. is crowing over the fact
that it made definite plans for a per
manent exhibit before Atlanta.
Twelve manufacturers already have
signed contracts for space, and nine
more are about to do so. It is ex
pected that 4,000 feet of floor space
will be used.
Arrangements have been made for
a building, and the exhibit will be
ready within two months. Louis Spen
cer, managing director, says.
among the exhibitors are
a stove works, a machine factory, a
foundry, a furniture factory, a trunk
factory and a spring bed factory.
Some of these lines are duplicated.
Write for our latest Catalogue. The leading merchants are adding
the 5c and 10c departments. Why not one for your town?
McCLURE 10c CO., 47-49 S. Broad St.
Give Your “DIMES” a Chance
DIXIE PICKLE AND PRESERVING CO.
Manufacturers of
Pure Apple and Distilled Vinegar, Catsup, Pickles, Must aid. Pepper
Sauce, Sauer Kraut, Jelly, Etc
CANNED GOODS
ATLANTA GIRLS
BUT MILLINERY
MADE JI HOME
Half the Hats Seen on Peachtree
Street Are Made Here, but
the Fact Is Unheralded.
Half the women’s hats seen on
Peachtree Street are made right in
Atlanta.
The fair Peachtree promenaders
don’t know it; the milliners they pat
ronize don’t know it; in many cases
the Jobbers themselves don’t know it.
There are three factories In Atlanta
making women's hats, of straw, felt,
plush, hemp and the myriad other
materials which go to bedeck milady's
coiffure and frame her pretty face.
But as soon as the hat leaves these
factories the manufacturers lose their
identity. The hat Is marked with the
jobber’s label. It may be marked
New York, Philadelphia. New Orleans
or even London. The fact that it Is
made in Atlanta Is nowhere to be dis
covered.
One manufacturer tells, with a
grin. of Atlanta milliners who
“stocked up" In New York —with At
lanta-made hats.
Altogether, it is an interesting busi
ness.
Tlte American Hat Manufacturing
Company, one of the largest of the
three \tlanta factories. imports
straws direct from china, Japan,
Italy and Germany. These straws
are plaited abroad, and either are
dyed there or bleached and dyed in
Camden, N. J.
Japan sends hemp braid. Italy fur
nishes the milans. leghorns and tus
cans. Germany furnishes a peculiar
material known as Neapolitan braid,
which, though few know it. is made
from American cotton. China fur
nishes coarse straws.
So much for the straws. The felt
bodies come from abroad, in the
rough—queer, looking toadstools of
various shades. Silks, ribbons, vel
vets, plushes and ornaments are car
ried in quantity enough to stock a dry
goods store of large proportions.
Just now tlie factories are busy
with the hats to be worn this fall and
winter, and with misses’ and <-hll
dren’s hats for spring, 1914.
Sample rooms already are filled
with fall and spring lines, dazzling
arrays of colors, and seemingly in al
most every shape, but with smaller
hats predominating.
The making of a hat may be said to
begin in the room where a skilled
workman makes plaster molds accu
rately defining the shapes From
these plaster affairs, metal dies art
made. These dies are put in the
presses and heated by gas flames
The rough shapes, either felt, velvet,
straw or hemp, are stamped with
these hot dies and held in them until
dry. When removed the heat has
baked the sticky "sizing" until tht
shapes are firm.
From the presses the velvet and
plush hats go to a workman who
steams them and brushes up the nap
to its original beauty.
The straw shapes are made in the
factory. Ingeniously designed sewing
machines, manipulated by skillful
girls, sew the braid round and round,
until a tiny knot grows into a gigantic
hat. In the straw season 150 girls
are busy at these machines.
SELL SINGLETON’S
1 Peanut Products
FOR SURE and STEADY PROFITS
W/2 Whitehall. Phone Main 635.
Englishman’s Criticism of
American Stores Ans wered
Selfridge’s Manager Unjustified in Saying Cus
tomers Wait Too Long for Parcels.
A. E. Cowper, one of the important
men in the organization of Selfridge
& Co., which in turn has, perhaps, the
most Important department store in
London, recently made a visit to the
United States. He spent most of Ills
time, of course, in looking over
American department stores, and be
fore he departed for England freed
himself of some criticism.
’’One thing which struck me was
the time it takes to complete a pur
chase and get your goods wrapped
and delivered," he said.
"At home we have no bundle wrap
pers; the clerks wrap the packages,
and we find it saves time and mis
takes. When a customer has made a
purchase and the goods are shipped
by carrier or messenger to a distant
cash-and-bundle desk, every second
she has to wait is magnified to a
minute, whereas if the goods are
wrapped by the clerk, the customer
is getting the full attention of that
salesperson, and If a minute or two
should be lost, she Is seeing the ac
tion ail the time, and does not feel
that she has been lost sight of. In
Selfridge's we use cash registers, and
we find them great savers of time."
Atlanta merchandise experts do not
agree with the English student of
store service.
Mr. Cowper, in the opinion of va
rious Atlantans approached on the
subject, magnifies the importance of
the transactions where the purchases
actually are taken away by the buyer.
Tney remark that while it may be
the custom in London for shoppers to
carry home their purchases, nine out
of ten customers in Atlanta demand
delivery by wagon.
At any rate, they say, there is very
little delay, and it is much better to
free the salespeople from the duty
of wrapping packages.
Thousand Lined Up
To Get Into Store
Furniture House Devises Attractive
Scheme to Induce Public to
Notice Low Prices.
Even In busy Atlanta, it Is seldom
enough that a thousand people are lined
up waiting to get Into a store when
the doors are thrown open. This was
the record established by Sterchl Bros.
& Barnes, Mitchell Street, near White
hall, Thursday morning
The attraction was an unusual sale of
furniture, coupled with a prize offer.
Tags were widely distributed among the
friends of the store. Each of These tags
was numbered, and 100 of the numbers
corresponded with the numbers on tags
A
FREE
TRIP
To Atlanta is avail
able to the mer
chant who buys an
adequate bill from
the members of the
Merchants’ Asso
ciation. ‘ "■
Write to
H. T. Moore
SECRETARY.
Rhodes Building,
Atlanta.
Managers of Atlanta department
stores made tests at random to dem
onstrate that It takes on an average
30 seconds for the delivery of a pack
age and the making of change.
Lucian York, manager of Rich’s,
says:
‘ We have a system which we be
lieve is the best yet devised from
the viewpoint of the customer, and
Selfridge’s certainly have nothing to
compare with it. We use an ‘identi
fication coin.’
Departs at Once.
"Most of our charge customers
have their parcels delivered. After
the transaction is made the customer
merely gives her name and address
to the salesperson, shows her identi
fication coin, and departs at once.
Even when the customer takes the
parcel with her, the wrapper in the
stand has it ready in a jiffy. Time
records to gauge our wrappers show
that on an average they use less
than a minute.
"The delivery of packages, after all,
is simply a minor matter. What our
American people want broadly is
service—the right merchandise at the
right time at the right price. In Eng
lish stores customers still are impor
tuned to buy; in fact, in many of the
stores it is almost impossible to leave
without buying. Fancy such a condi
tion here!
"Again, hero we make every effort
to get what the customer wants. We
anticipate the styles, bring on new
models and patterns.
"When the customer purchases
these goods she buys them at our
risk—if they are not pleasing to her
when she gets them home she is at
liberty to return them. Here the cus
tomer is always right—tn England,
from what I understand, she Is more
at the mercy of the storekeeper.”
born® by articles in the store. When
any visitor matched his tag with any
tag in the store, he was privileged to
claim the article, without being obli
gated to purchase anything.
The plan drew a big crowd, and, bet
ter, It attracted attention to some very
low prices, and resulted in good sales
TAFFETA RIBBONS SCARCE.
A scarcity of taffeta ribbons in
stock colorings is reported. Pinks,
blues and whites are especially hard
to get.
STATIONERY MADE BY
A SOUTHERN FACTORY
Here in Atlanta is a factory that makes
Tablets, Box Papers, Envelopes and School
Stationery—the only factory of its kind
south of the Ohio River—the largest south
of New York. One of our specialties is
TUBEROSE
“Particular Paper lor Particular People”
Put up in Tablets, Pound Papers and Box
Papers; one of the best qualities on the
market.
Our new 500-page catalog, showing these
and other goods, will be ready August L
Ask for a copy, Mr. Merchant.
MONTAG BROTHERS
Manufacturers—Jobbers—lmporter*
10-12-14-16-18-20 Nelson St. ATLANTA
Silk Dyers Strike;
Feathers Face Bar;
Flowers in Favor
Milliners Think That for Once They
Can Predict Styles for Fall
Well in Advance.
Flowers will be popular on wom
en's hats for fall and winter wear.
In July this is a dangerous predic
tion. Circumstances, however, make
It fairly sate prophecy. In the opin
ion of C. B Palmer, of M. Kutz Co.,
wholesale milliners.
Dame Fashion might take a notion
to dictate ribbons. But the silk dy
ers' strikes in Paterson, N. J., have
caused an increase of 20 per cent in
the cost of ribbons, and even at these
advanced prices, deliveries can not
be made. At best, goods can not be
promised before August 15 or Sep
tember 1, and even if the mills re
open, they are likely to be over
whelmed with the orders which have
been accumulating.
Feathers, again, might have been
Fashion's favorites. But right now
there, is trouble in Congress over the
Importation of feathers. The milli
ners and the Audubon Society are in
the throes of a bitter struggle which
will decide whether feathers will be
admitted at all under the new tariff.
Remain only fur and flowers. For
three seasons, velvet and silk flow
ers have been increasing in popular
ity on fall and winter hats, and, with
the scarcity of other materials, are
likely to take the ascendency this
fall.
Small hats will rule —that Is. small
er than those which have been worn
for the past few seasons. Crowns will
be round, with turned-up brims, ac
cording to Mr. Palmer. What will be
the favorite colors, besides the sta
ple blues, browns and black, no one
will know until September 1.
The Kutz Co. salesmen started out
last Monday te cover the Southern
States for fall business.
MORE BUYERS THAN PEACHES.
NEW YORK. July 5 Buyers re
turning here from Georgia say that it
Is generally estimated the peach crop
of Georgia will run about 1,500 cars.
According to the railroad men, they
do not expect to move over 75 cars a
day out of the State at the flush of
the season There are a great many
buyers at Fort Valley. Fully 95 per
cent of the peaches are being sold
on track—in fact, there are more buy
ers than there are peaches.
9A