BEHIND THE SCENES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2523, 26 July 1915, Page 3

BEHIND THE SCENES

IN A BIG DRAPERY ENTERPRISE BUYING SUPPLIES IN A. TIGHT MARKET. The one supreme test of business efficiency is to "deliver the goods" ou the call of time, and the firm which does this, not once, or twice, but all the time, "makes good" with the public. To accomplish this in a great war crisis, when the Home markets aro upside ,-down with the Government having first call 011 'supplies, prices soaring, and shipping in a state of chaos, means that resource, foresight, decision, have been working overtime behind tho scenes. The story of how Kirkcaldio and Stains, Ltd., "made good" _in a tight market, as told to an interviewer by Mr. Sidney Kirkcaldio during tho course of a. brief chat abont thoir big half-yearly sale this week, reads almost like a romance. "This," he said, "is the position with which wo were laced, not only for our summer, but also for our 1016 winter supplies. Large supplies of dress goods and tweeds, formerly imported into New Zealand from tho Continent, were cut off; the enemy is in possession of the textile manufacturing district of Franco, so that not only arc our own supplies cut off, but tho French houses themselves aro buying largely in Great Britain. I. know of one particular house that placed orders in England for £5000 worth of dress serges, last October, for dc-livery in January and February, and up till June 8 last had only received £500 worth. "Wo cabled our buyers to go right . ahead and cover our supplies for both nest summer and the winter of 1916. Even then t'hey had to face a considerable jump in prices, but nothing to what they would have had to face if they had left the placing of the orders 'till June. . Our London representatives recently purchased for lis supplies of Cheviot serges for next, winter.. Since then they have already advanced something like 25 per cent. They repeated our last winter's orders for hosiery, but up till the beginning of June' only one manufacturer .'had guaranteed delivery. Auotlier firm, which accepted our orders, said we would have to take delivery bsforo tho end of April in order to secure tho prices then quoted, but up till July tbey.had not been delivered, and wo will bo extremely fortunate if they reach ns before Christmas. "And what is your message to tho public, Mr. Kirkcaldio?". asked the interviewer. "We will deliver the goods," he replied. "Writing in the early part of June our London office informed us that . after reviewing their purchases they considered that we should have ampie supplies for the summer of 1915, and the winter of 1916.' As far as our preseht stocks are concerned, we are holding today a larger stock of general drapery (and more especially woollen goods), than wo havo'ever held before. Whilo some slight advanco in prices has had to be . made to cover , increased cost of importation (suo'll as increased freights, war insurance, etc.), the goods we liavo to offer at to-day's prices are cheap compared with what : they will ho a little later oii in the year., "In my opinion," he added, "it would be true economy for people in Now Zealand to obtain their clothing supplies at an early date, as high prices _ are bound to : rule, combiued with-consider-able scarcity in many articles of clothing that the public have been - accustomed to procure readily."—(Published by arrangement.)