PUTARURU PROBLEMS.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 228, 15 March 1928, Page 5

PUTARURU PROBLEMS.

THE NEED FOR CIVIC PRIDE.

A Glimpse Through American Eyes.

Local Retailer’s Wise Dictum.

“It Is the quietest two months I i'have .ever known 5 n twenty years,” stated a Putaruru businessman to

the-writer a couple of weeks ago. TheL speaker went on to relate in a laughing manner that he felt like shutting up his shop as business was -so dull.

Such- periods come in cycles. They come to. towns and countries as well as mere -private businesses, and according to the manner in which these depressions are handled so are those who experience the pinch judged. The wise retailer when he .finds his business so depressed, looks around to find out the cause. His staff may not be attentive; his displays may be unattractive; his prices too high; and after finding out the weak spot he naturally starts immediately to remedy it. Merely sitting down and awaiting for something to turn up in Micaw-ber-like fashion will get no one anywhere. During a dull period the wise j retailer sets out to meet slack trade

half-way. He concentrates on his advertising, by toning-up his newspaper space, rearranging his window disand by every possible means W gets into the closest touch with those whom he would serve. There is no other means, and the live man knows this, for no great business in the world to-day has been built up without such advertising, nor could one live if it dropped such essential methods for more than a brief space. ' Staying Power Necessary. Every keen businessman knows that he can never “let up.” The man will tell you in his Jpwn words that— One little step won’t take you far, You’ve got to keep on walking: One little word won’t tell what you are, You’ve got to keep on talking: One inch won’t make you very tall, You’ve got to keep on growing: One little “ Ad.” won’t do it all, You’ve got to keep ’em going.

It is this spirit which is behind every big business, and no business can be great without it. Similarly it is the same spirit which makes towns and without it they can make little progress.

Towns are just like businesses, they are made or marred by the people in them, and the inhabitants have to be for ever pushing, and alive to the main chance, if they are to be progressive and therefore successful.

The leaders of all progressive com■zjpnities realise this, and many and varied are the forms adopted to assist in bringing in business. Rotorua recently passed through a period of extreme dullness in business, and immediately the leaders of that community started on a hustle advertising campaign throughout the length and breadth of the Dominion, and further afield, with excellent results. Such methods are not, of course, applicable to all towns, for most have little by way of attractions which will draw the tourist. Nevertheless there Smany ways by which most comnities can secure good results. ■'•spr Foster Community Spirit. - a.s has been pointed out in a previous article the community spirit is .essential, and once l. this has been built up the town must set out to advertise its own particular attractions in its own particular way. It is surprising if the combined brains of local bodies—such as the ruling authority, ■ chamber of commerce, and the like are concentrated on this problem, how many different ways can be thought of for assisting in lifting a community out of a rut and on to the high •road to progress and prosperity. But such ideas do not come without effort. - One occasionally hears the remark that Putaruru will never be anything. ■Similar remarks of course have been ■ said, and will be said, about other towns. The point is that so long as such beliefs are paramount, no town ! can ever be anything, for the mental state which creates such comment, deludes the authors from having the necessary flexibility of mind for grasping opportunities. A belief m one’s town or business is a first-rate asset, and even if the observer is so dull as not to be able to see obvious

opportunities when pointed out, there is no excuse at all in becoming a dullard, and running down one’s home town. No sane man would run down his own business, and therefore there is no excuse for ever running down the town which consists of the people with whom he does business. A Tip From The States. The great difference between the British and American attitude on this aspect is very apparent to those who have been fortunate enough to have travelled and mixed with both. Largely, when on a journey, our own stock prefer to settle down in a comfortable seat, and after exchanging polite comments on the weather, bury themselves in a book or magazine, or amuse themselves with their own thoughts. The American is totally different. He is uncomfortable if he finds that there is no one within earshot with whom he can talk. He is bursting to “ tell ” and to “ ask.” As soon as he has found an agreeable listener he will expatiate on the wonders of his town’s new system of water supply, or expound in detail the communities latest balance-sheet, generally winding up with the direct suggestion that both are the “ best ever.” Despite his many eccentricities as a nation we may learn much from the American.

Through Rim-horned Specs.

Should an American come to Putaruru what might his attitude be. In the first place he would declaim loudly on the ugliness of the general environment, and lack of condition in the streets. Bluntly he would demand to knaw what the town board was doing about it. Having satisfied himself on this point, he might next tackle water and caustically ask if the Oraka had gone dry. Turning to other matters he would not be content to expect visitors to go to the local station to find out the name of the town. He would plant it prominently at all entrances, and add his welcome to it. He would be eager to do business with such birds of passage, and cater for them by securing the erection of appointments for their convenience on a suitable camping ground within the town area. One of his first moves would be to plan the erection of a community rest room for his country customers. He would readily recognise that Mrs. Settler could not visit his drug-store and purchase hi" goods as often as he would please, If she had young children to attend to. Therefore the best of such conveniences would be planned and built for her comfort. It would be his reply to the half page advertisements of his city competitors in the metropolitan papers. He •would provide the necessary vital comforts for her convenience, recognising that he lived on the farmer, and then proceed to advertise far and wide that his goods were as good and cheap as any to be obtained elsewhere.

A Profitable Investment. tie would not blame the tired farmwife, for he would recognise that it was much easier for her to succumb to the wiles of the mail order expert, than to undergo the trials of superintending her young flock through his and his neighbour’s stores, if he «$d not provide amenities for her convenience.

He would recognise, of course, that such ideas could not be carried! out without cost, and could not be erected in a day. Recognising, however, that it would be money well spent, for which he would get full return, he would see to it that little peace ] was given to those in authority until his ideas were put into, concrete form. A Wise Dictum. “ Rates are one of the best payments a man can make, so long as he is getting anything like value for his money..” This statement was made by a local retailer a short time ago, when the subject was under discus-

sion. The belief is not a very common one, yet the more this statement is examined, the more solid it will be found to be. Few, New Zealanders

(Continued in Next Column)

“ could expound the de&i'ils of che community’s latest- bain--w-sheoL,’ for unfortunately civic pride is not. developed amongst us to, the extent it ] might be. However, such reading should be far more tfean a mere pastime, to be quickly forgotten,, for it should in reality be- a duty to most. Were this so, civic- pride would be fostered to a greater degree, and it lis an undeniable fact that where a strong and healthy pride in a town is found amongst the inhabitants, there also- you will find a prosperous community.

(Next weeks Putaruru article:— “ £50,000 going a-begging; who wants it? ”)

A member of a deputation to the Matamata County Council ori Friday had queer ideas upo.i roading costs: “It won’t cos t anything to repair the roads,” he said, “ the surfaceman is always there.”