BUSINESS CHAOS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20095, 15 November 1939, Page 11

BUSINESS CHAOS

RISING COST OF GOODS PUZZLING RESTRICTIONS PROBLEM OF CHARGES The difficulties with which retailers are confronted under the present chaotic conditions are emphasised in an editorial in the latest issue of the New Zealand Draper, Clothier and Boot Retailer. Added to the difficulties surrounding the importation of goods from overseas, states the editorial, and the exasperating problems of arranging payment for them, when they are procurable, retailers are now faced with more muddling and puzzling restrictions concerning the rising cost of goods, and to what extent increased prices may be passed on to the consumer.

No business man, it is emphasised, looks to make a profit out of such a national emergency. Retailers are stated to be as anxious as any other section of the community to work in harmony with the authorities, and play their part in the national effort. “Not A Fair Deal” “We ask for no favours or special consideration, but we feel that we are entitled to equal treatment with other sections of the business community,” the continues. “Our retailers should not be singled out as the whipping boy for special punishment, when the inevitable rise in prices clue to the war has to be adjusted.“ The customer, it is explained, lias no means of 'working out how raw materials, factory costs, transport, insurance, taxes and a score of other rising charges have all been passed on to the retailers, who have to pay the lot before they can obtain the goods and then collect the charges from the consumer. A dealer or retailer cannot be made to sell goods at a loss if he is unwilling to do so. With thousands of men going into camp, the article concludes, the draper, clothier and boot retailer of to-day is faced with a rapidly declining market for his wares, and an even more rapidly rising market for restocking his supplies. He has also to meet higher taxes and higher costs outside his business, and the outlook is not very bright. Added to this the Government’s attitude to him is the opposite to helpful, and he is more than justified in complaining that he has not been getting a fair deal.