THE PED POST.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 219, 14 March 1912, Page 6

THE PED POST.

MAGNIFICENT NEW PREMISES. Faith in New Plymouth is the dominant note that finds expression in the enterprise of the Red Post Furnishing Company in moving, into its substantial new buildings in Devon street. Cynics are doubtless not wanting who will say that the company has taken a step years ahead of the times, but already indications are not wanting to show that the fully justified in it* confidence and expectations of increased volume of business. The idea is to provide anything in the way of furnishings frpm A to Z, and on a sufficiently large scale to obviate the necessity of people going outside of New Plymouth for their ■ requirements. The Red Post makes a speciality of furnishing a cottage throughout, omitting nothing found in a modern home, for the modest sum of £47 —cash! For cash—and in that short phrase is summed up the secret of success and low prices as far as the Red Post is concerned. It is a far cry from the cottage to the mansion, but the Red Post provides for all stations. That this is no mere figure of speech is at once made apparent by an inspection of the shipment of magnificent new carpets direct from Crossley's, of Halifax, the world's largest manufacturers of carpets. Prices of these cover a wide range, some of them costing £2O a room. Linoleums are in galore, there being as many as 150 different patterns to choose from. Oak furnishings are also a feature of the establishment, and some thousands of feet of fine quarteredoak are due shortly to arrive from England. With a view to providing its patrons with the most reliable article possible, the Red Port is eliminating rimu from its furnishings and substituting kauri. It is not >much use carrying big stocks unless there is plenty of room for displaying them, and bearing this in mind the proprietary has gone in for a building—it is easily the largest ferroconcrete structure in the town—which, with a frontage of 80ft and a depth of 60ft, provides nearly 10,000 cubic feet floor space. The appointments of the building are on a sumptuous scale. There is an electric goods lift, and large glass show cases lead in from the footpath to the entrance to each of the various departments. One of the cases is devoted to a display of Rembrandt ware—the latest creation of the famous English potteries—which is being introduced to New Plymouth by the Red Post for the first time. The Rembrandt design is something distinctly out of the common. The Red Post manufactures the whole qf its furniture, and an imposing pile of 50 bales of Samarang kapoc gives one an idea of the magnitude of its operations. By local manufacture the establishment circulates its money within the district, and it is estimated that half the price of an article sold, say for £5 10s, goes in wages alone. The Red Post dispenses with the middle man. Up- . stairs it is intended to partition the building into a number of compartments, each representing a room in a house and to be furnished accordingly. All things considered, the Red Post's latest move is indeed a "red-letter" day i» the hiitory of the business community of the town.*