RETAIL SALES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 833, 3 June 1910, Page 2

RETAIL SALES.

BY WHOLESALE FIRMS. PROTEST BY SHOPKEEPERS. Retail sales. by wholesalo houses was thb subject of an interesting discussion at the annual meeting of the Shopkeepers' Association yesterday.

A member of the association wrote drawing attention to the increasing amount of retail trading practised by "so-called wholesale firms" in the city. He thought it was very unfair to retailers as a body that this was allowed to go on. The warehouses in the solt goods trade sent out travellers to them, for orders, and at the same time entered into illegitimate competition with them. An instance had recently come under his noticc of a gentleman holding a high position in tho Government service obtaining :joods for his own private use from a large wholesale house. Another case in point was this. A Chinese customer of the writer asked him to procure him an article of wearing apparel. The writer did so. and upon his quoting tho price the customer replied that he could go to Messrs-. So-aud-So and get it for the price the retailor had paid for it. This nian was a fruiterer. Was such trading fair? The retiring president (Mr. H. H. Seaton) said that two years ago the association called the attention 01 the warehouses to the practice complained of, and to a very great degree it was stopped. The shopkeepers were to some extent responsible because they gave their customers? orders to purchase ut the warehouses. When they did not stock an article asked for by a customer, they would give him an order on a j wholesale firm, asking that it should be I placed to their account. If the are--1 housemen's Association (lid not stop tho practice it would probably go on f° r ,°*l I time. Except if! those cases m which i orders were given, retail business was ' not done by the warehouses to tho same extent as ■formerly prevailed. Another member asserted that "friends of the a?sistants, barmaid:*, and that sort of thing" made cash purchases •from warehouses. It was stated that assistants bought goods for all their friends at cash price, which was cheaper than the retailers got them, and then put on about 5 per cent. It was agreed that in cases where purchases were charred to a retailer s account the association could do nothing. Another member thought that the wholesale firms should to. sell to any person any article foreign to Ins business. , ... . The retiring president snul he did not thing that the warehouses should supply people unless they had an account. Three or four years ago a certain-ware-house showed one hundred cash sales in one week, of which the .total amount was only cCIO. , , , ' j A member: They ought to be ashamed of themselves." ' . ~, , Mr. Seaton said he was satisfied that the large amount of indenting done in New Zealand was the result of ™J\^ rac " tice. He used to spend over a year with the warehouses, but ho dmnot now, because he had to compete against them, fie thought that the association might suggest to the incoming executive that they should make representations to the warehousemen m the "A 1 member 'stated that boarclinq-hnuw keepers could buy anything they liked at. the warehouses for cash payment. No motion was put forward.