HOME EQUIPMENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 65, 8 June 1927, Page 12

HOME EQUIPMENT

THE RETAILERS’ STOCKS KEEPING PACE WITH THE DEMAND In order to keep himself from dropping behind in the race for busines* the modern retailer has to study first and foremost the public’s requirements, and do his utmost to cater for them. This is fully realised by the up-to-date shopkeeper, and wide is the variety of goods he has to stock. Although the present is the time of the specialist, when the handv-man and jack-of-all-trades has little chance of success in the labour market, when knowledge in all branches of learning is so comparatively complete that no individual can hope to he an expert in even one subject, yet the trader is expected to be able to provide from stock any article that comes within the category of his particular trade, and to be competent to give to his customers advice as to the best brand of purchase and as to its use and installation.

It is surprising how well the traders succeed in gauging the needs of their customers, and how they contrive to keep abreast of the times, when every day brings a new 7 invention, a fresh fashion, or a newly-established manufacturing house whose wares are widely advertised, with the result that a demand for them springs up. During the course of a chat with a Christchurch ironmonger the fact was brought to light that the conscientious tradesman considers it an essential part of his day’s duties to read carefully 7 the various trade journals and catalogues from the manufacturers. It would appear, therefore, that manufacturers who create and stimulate a demand for their products take equal care that the retailers, who should be in a position to supply that demand, are kept fully informed as to the latest goods and prices. The catalogues of British manufactures of hardware and ironmongery are often comprehensive in the amount of information they contain. In a lot of cases bulky volumes, beautifully printed and compiled, they include specifications and illustrations of every variety of goods that can possibly be covered by the titles of hardware and ironmongery. These range from items of metal work required in the construction of buildings of all sorts, to the apparatus for the essential services of water, gas, sanitation, and electricity, and also many articles of use and ornament, such as kitchen utensils, lamps and flower bowls. There are, for instance, gut-», tering and rainwater pipes, hinges for doors, locks and holts, metal casements, window fittings of all descriptions, finger plates and door handles, grates and stoves, gas and electric light fixtures, baths, tanks, and cisterns, boilers and radiators. This list is capable of indefinite expansion. Mention has not been made of patented devices for securing window's, for hanging curtains, for suspending pictures, and the hundred and one items

; that a few years ago were laborious and • distasteful. > The builder or the householder of r to-day is fortunate in that he can obtain anyw'here, and at the shortest 1 notice, any material or item of equip- ■ ment for a building or a home, which • has that best of all guarantees, the ■ guarantee of British manufacture. It is obviously impossible for every pur- ■ chaser to possess a full set of the cata- ■ logues of British manufactures of hardi ware, nor is it necessary. Ironmongers and builders’ merchants at home and : abroad know' by experience that the • British article is made of high-grade materials, and that honest and skilled i workmanship has gone into its construc- ’ tion. British hardware is therefore ■ esteemed and stocked in every country 1 and may always be obtained if only in- ■ tending purchasers will demand it. . In most instances it will be found that British hardware is not materially greater in price than similar but inferior articles of foreign manufacture. In those cases where the British article is more expensive the additional cost is ■ warranted by the greater amount of material, better finish, and longer life ■ obtained. Most householders in these days can make but a limited appropriation from their incomes for the equipment of their homes, and they will be the first to realise that it is better to lay out this money on articles which will not need frequent renewal, thereby allowing them, year by year, to add to their homes, rather than to buy low- ■ grade articles, the renewal of which v will absorb a substantial portion of each year’s available funds. Hardware stores the world over are miniature catalogues of the principal British manufacturers. In their windows, and ranged within the shops, are examples of the highest grades of hardware and ironmongery that the ; world produces, and. generally speaking, purchasers need go no farther afield than their own local dealers in order to obtain their normal requirements of ; British hardware.