T h e A u t o m a t ic A ge
distribution will cover all distributing
organizations and their business activities
as well as all automobile merchants. It
will give account of the various types and
sizes of retailers, wholesalers and all other
merchandising concerns in the entire
country, their sales, expenses, inventories,
and employees. So far as possible it will
provide information relating to goods sold
by these various distributors, the limiting
factor being the inadequacy of records
kept by the rank and file of merchants.
Not only will this information be sum
marized whenever available for each city
and county as well as for each state and
the nation as a whole, but it also will be
publ:shed promptly so as to be as timely
and valuable as possible.
Every automobile marchant, as well as
merchants in other lines, will be in a posi
tion to compare his business with that of
groups of others in his general locality
and in the nat'on as a whole. Comparisons
maybe made regarding the amount of
sales, proportion of business done on
credit, amount of goods returned, inven
tory, expenses, number of employees,
wages, and various other items. Informa
tion will be sought as to the number of
establishments an organization operates or
owns in a given l:ne of business in
different cities, the character of the or
ganization, whether operated by an in
dividual, partnership, incorporated company
or co-operative association.
Sales by
commodities, such as automobiles, trucks,
buses, tractors and accessories will be
tabulated.
Every business firm in the country will
be canvassed. Each dealer will be asked
a number of questions which will supply
essential facts. No attempt, however, will
be made to discover the amount of profit.
All questions to be asked are designed for
the purpose of obtain'ng data to eliminate
some of the blindness from competition,
to strike out waste, and, in general, to
help the automobile merchant and other
merchants, to know themselves and their
businesses to a point never known pre
viously. The Census of Distribution re
ports can be compared to a trade conven
tion on a large scale in which merchants
exchange among themselves and for
mutual benefit many lessons drawn from
their practical experience.
The Census of Distribution is designed
to give retailers information concerning
© International Arcade Museum
13
FLUCTUATING LIVING COST
The cost of living has done much
see-sawing since the war, as shown
by official statistics, the prices of 1913
equaling 100:
*Low
*High
Since War Since War
Food ......................... 138.7(22) 219.0(20)
Clothing .................. 160.5(29) 287.5(20)
Rent ......................... 109.2(18) 168.2(24)
Fuel and Light -- 145.6(19) 194.9(20)
House Furnishings. 197.7(29) 292.7(20)
Miscellaneous ......... 165.8(18) 208.8(21)
All Items ............. 166.3(22) 216.5(20)
♦Figures in parentheses indicate the
years in which the highs and lows
occurred
the number of establishments of each type
and size in their own community and the
average situation of each group as to such
matters as sales, inventory, expenses, em
ployees, service, and so forth. Moreover,
it will acquaint retailers with the porpor-
tion of business done by chain stores as
against independents, the degree to which
stores of various types sell goods more
generally supposed to be sold by stores of
another type, and the proportion of retail
sales in their region made on credit, and
what proportion of sales is offset by re
turned goods.
The census also will help manufacturers
and farmers in their field of production,
and finally it will help the consuming
pubi c which will benefit by lower prices
or better service supplied through more
efficient distribution.
GETTING HIGHBROW
To show where the drug store has got
to: A Liggett’s on S'xth Avenue has a sign
on the window which reads: “Come in and
Browse Around.”
Phil Baker said Florida raised enough
grapefruit in the last year to blind the
people that prohibition didn’t.
TALK
I wish people—when you s't near them—
Wouldnt’ think it necessary to make con
versation.
And send their drought of words
Blowing down your neck and your ears
And giving you a cold in your inside.
—D. H. Lawrence.
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