CHRISTMAS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20100, 2 December 1930, Page 13

CHRISTMAS.

| OPTIMISM SHOWN BY | SHOPKEEPERS. GOOD TRADE EXPECTED. With the approach of the Christmas season shopkeepers throughout the City are preparing for the customary rush of business. The toyshops, particularly are, as usual, making special efforts to attract the Christmas trade, and they display many interesting and amusing novelties for children. The opinion seems ' general aijiong-retailers that any Christmas, no matter how depressed the times may be, is a ripe moment for profitable business. The special Christmas trade of the toyshops is being prepared for in the same way. as in preceding years. There are the attractions run by the larger firms which always draw hundreds of children and which appear to be not only a good advertisement for those firms themselves but also for the • Christmas trade in general, thus helping the smaller shops considerably. The recent increase of tariffs will, of course, cut down this year's profits by a good deal, because almost every firm has decided to bear the additional burden' itself and not pass it on to the public. It was explained to a representative of The Press that this is not altogether philI anthropy. When a firm orders a hine of goods it orders the maximum number which it thinks it can sell: at a price leaving a margin of profit. If the price were to be raised the goods would probably become "dead stock," so that the firm would lose money in cither- event and would probably, lose other . business by raising its prices. _ Mechanical Toys Popular; . As always the mechanical toy is popular but, because it appeals mainly only to the older children, large numbers of such things as dolls and wooden building blocks are still being bought, A clockwork model of a well-known racing car, though it is fairly expensive, is selling well everywhere. A model of a famous flyer's aeroplane is also popular, and thousands of Mickey Mouse dolls are being sold every day. of the bigger firms have only begun their Christmas trade in the last week or so. One, wfiicTi began last week, reports excellent business. "So long as the article is gdod and the price is right people will, buy freely," a leading retailer remarked. • Oii the'whole-the priees appear to be very much the same as last year, though, thanks to the increased tariffs, the importers are • not making the same profits as before. No British Preference. . As far as could be learned, very little preference is being shown for British goods. Oiie man even said that some people preferred German-made' toys because there was a feeling about that British workmen could not make such good articles as the Germans. No shopkeeper could report that he was ever asked for British goods in preference to anything else in the toy line and-the only hopeful gleam came from one who said that the public sometimes preferred British tooth-brushes and hairj brushes, "because they were' afraid of the anthrax from the Continent."

Nobody in the toy trade, apparently, fears the depression. Almost everyone seemed confident, though the main rush has not yet begun, that it will occur before Christmas Day. "Some years ago," a trader remarked, "the rush used to begin in October, simply because there was plenty of money about. Now, when people are short of ready money, they put off their buying- as long as possible and it is quite probable that we won't have any real rush until perhaps two or three days before Christmas Day.' ? Then, he was confident, as much buying as ever would be done. The Money Shortage. The head of one large firm painted a rather darker picture, however. He pointed out that it seemed almost impossible that trade should be so good this year, simply because the farmers had not the money. First and last.it was the farmers who brought the money into the country, and when they were getting 5d and 6d for wool it was hardly likely that trade would remain at its old level. "Where a farmer used to spend 10s on toys for his children," he said, "he's probably now spending. only about 5s or possibly only half-a-crown." The speaker deprecated the taking of a pessimistic view of the depression, but said the facts affecting the trade of the cities had to be faced. On the whole, however, the prospects seem good for Christmas trade.