The Trade Bulletin (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 20, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 28, 1906 Page: 2 of 20
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THE TRADE BULLETIN.
Ardmore, thought that, as the deal
er paid occupation tax the "trailer
should, also. He favored the legisla-
tive committee. F. M. Spangler, of
Mulhall, says he turns "trailer" him-
self when the professional "trailer'
strike his section, and offers the
farmer a better bargain than the oth-
er fellow can. The discussion closed
with a suggestion from Mr. Pettee
that the stock of the "trailer" could
•be assessed, and that if the dealers
would get after the assessor, the coun-
ty could get the taxes on them.
WEDNESDAY MORNING.
E. C. Simmons, president of the
Simmons Hardware company, was
down on the program for an address
Wednesday morning but was unable
to be here, and R. W. Shapleigh.of the
Norvill-Shapleigh company, made an
address. He succeeded in adding some-
what to our pride in our state, and her
resources, and in convincing us o
his friendship and good wishes to-
wards and for the Retail Hardware
dealers of the new state.
Following Mr. Shapleigh, M. C. Hale
of Tulsa, delivered an address on tne
subject of district or local clubs and
in our opinion the formation of local
clubs is a most important move for
good association work and Mr. Hale
handled the subject so thoroughly,
we reproduce his address in full.
Mr. Hale's Address.
The organization of hardware clubs
is, in my opinion, the most important
subject that can be taken up and dis-
cussed by the hardware dealers here
assembled.
In the days and weeks we spend be-
hind the counter trying to make a
living selling hardware, the thought
often comes to us. How can we better
our conditions? Competition is getting
keener all the time, and profits are
naturally becoming less. It is the na-
tural ambition of each one of us to
sell more goods than our competitors,
and the usual method is to make spe-
cial inducements to this and that cus-
tomer with the result that the large
buyers have no difficulty in buying
goods at a very close margin.
The trouble with the merchants in
most towns is that they are jealous
of each other and a lack of confi-
dence in each other prevails. It is no
uncommon thing to find towns where
the merchants will not even buy
goods from the same jobber for the
fear that if they get to handling the
same brand of goods the prices will
be demoralized. I have in mind towns
where business Is such that, if the
cost of doing business were added to
the cost of the goods, the entire
builders' hardware (business would
show a loss. There is only one solu-
tion of this growing evil, and that is
the organization of the hardware deal
ers in each town.
Call a meeting of all the hardware
dealers in your town, elect your of-
ficers, draw up a set of by-laws, ap-
point your committees, meet once or
twice a month as the circumstances
demand, have some cigars, and make
It a social event.
I think it is a good plan once in a
while to have a supper all by your-
selves, and you will be surprised at
the feeling of confidence and friend-
ship that will spring up between you,
for there is no reason why your com-
petitor should not be one of your best
friends. At these meetings establish
prices on staple hardware, such as
nails, wire, poultry netting, wire-
cloth, builders' hardware, and any car-
penters' tools, on which you may have
strong competition. This list should
be made, of course, to suit your own
particular needs.
I would suggest that all goods 011
which prices have been established
should be marked in such a way, for
instance, a cross, so as to indicate
to the clerk that the price found on
all goods with this particular mark
should not be cut. Some of you will
probably say that you have a compe-
titor who might agree to sustain
prices, but he never would do so; and
why won't he do so? Because he thinks
the same of you. You haven't any con-
fidence in each other's sustaining the
prices. This can only be remedied by
frequent meetings, where you can
thresh out your troubles among your-
selves, and' it won't be long before
you Will have more confidence in
each other's sustaining prices.
We experienced the same trouble
in Tulsa before we organized. There
was not a week passed that I did nor
hear of prices beine cut by our com-
petitors, and I usually met the prices,
and sometimes would go them one bet-
ter. We never though of such a thing
as consulting each other about these
cut prices: we felt too independent
to do anything like that—and conse-
quently the retail prices In Tulsa were
becoming more demoralized every day.
One dav I broke the ice and called
them all together. We spent a pleas-
ant evening, and before we separated
we decided that we were all a pretty
good bunch of fellows. We elected our
officers, drew up a set of by-laws, and
anpointed the necessary committees.
We then continued with our business
with a different feeling In our hearts
towards each other, and now if a cus-
tomer comes in and tells me I am
25 cents higher on barbed wire I know
he lies. There will be' an immense
amount of business in our grand new
state during the next few years, and
why throw away the profits in sense-
less price-cutting?
Another phase of the hardware busi-
ness which can be greatly helped by
oiganization is the credit business.
The average deadbeat, after wearing
out his credit at one store will com-
mence trading at another store and
so on until he is in debt to them all.
After our organization was com-
pleted at Tulsa, we compared notes
and found that In a number of casei
we all had the same bad account
tin our books. Now, if we are in doub'
concerning any account on our books
w e discuss the matter at our meetings
and thereby inform and protect each
other in regard to the same.
We are living in a period of great
organization and combination in hot1!
capital and labor. Th- manufacturers
have discovered that it is much more
profitable to get together and agree
on prices and work harmoniously to*
gether than to try to drive one anoth
,r out of I uciness. The laboring me-i
have organized themselves togethe:
in their unions, in order to sustain
the price of labor. Why should not the
retail hardware merchants get to-
gether and woik in harmony with each
other? Theio i* room for all of us,
and the old system of trying to drive
a competitor out of business is not
the profitable way of doing business.
I hope to see the time when every
town and city in our new state shall
have its organizations, that its mem-
bers shall belong to the state organiza-
tion, and thus to be working in unison
in taking advantage of the great pos-
sibilities and in upbuilding the hard-
ware business in our great country.
This session closeid with the appoint-
ment of the nominating committee, as
follows: Severance, Utt, Cooley,
Larsh and Bruington; and a talk by
Harry Mead, of Shawnee, on "Trade
Abuses." He stated that his experience
led to the conclusion that the jobber
was really one of the best friends of
the retailer. He was heartily in favor
of the formation of local clubs as
outlined by Mr. Hale, and for the
working out of a plan for mutual In-
surance. Col. Conover, of Richards &
Conover, made a short talk, assuring
the dealers of the friendship and co-
operation of the jobbers in maintain-
ing and building up their business
and securing a fair profit.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.
The session Wednesday afternoon
was opened by a talk on credits and
collections, by T. T. Eason, of Mar-
low, followed by a general discussion
of the subject. Mr. Mead told of the
success of the organization at Shaw-
nee, which was copied after the plan
worked out by the Merchants Credit
association, in Oklahoma City. Mr.
McKeand, of Oklahoma City, explain-
ed in detail the plan employed here,
and which is the one the Federated
Clubs would like to see organized in
(Continued on page 22)
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Fowler, Ward M. The Trade Bulletin (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 20, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 28, 1906, newspaper, July 28, 1906; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc127882/m1/2/: accessed July 16, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.