Combating the Five- and Ten-cent Stores. That druggists do not fear the competition of these stores seems to be indicated by the tone of the papers we are printing this month. All five men look upon such competition as an incentive to make them hunt for additional outlets and better ways for disposing of their merchandise. Schemes for getting the five- and ten-cent business that have been tried out in active practice, as well as methods that should result in increased sales, are described in a profitable way, and the information may prove of value to druggists who feel that they are not getting the returns they should from the small-price merchandise in their stocks. advantage. If they were most people would, of course, prefer to buy their drugs and drug sundries from a pharmacist. Instead, however, these people patronize the five- and tencent stores because they see in those places large quantities of the goods effectively displayed. It is up to the druggist to show his goods in a manner just as attractive. He will then get the business-his share of it, at least. A window display, featuring five- and tencent articles, will not fail to attract the people in the street and make immediate customers out of many of them. I have such a display in operation now, a window filled with five- and ten-cent packages of cough lozenges. The most of our calls for cough remedies this week have been for lozenges. During the week that we featured cough syrups, our sales were mostly of syrups, very few cough drops being called for. People buy what is shown them. CONSPICUOUS DISPLAY HELPS. Another selling scheme that I employ is to keep on a small counter a heterogeneous collection of five- and ten-cent articles. These displays attract many customers for inexpensive merchandise. In competing with the five- and ten-cent stores, however, the whole of the battle consists not in selling as many cheap articles as they, but in selling many of the cheaper goods and many more of the better grades which represent a greater value to the purchaser and a higher percentage of profit to the druggist. It is the mark of a good salesman—the drugstore kind-to persuade customers that quality and not quantity is the important point to consider in buying drugs and sundries. When asked for a certain ten-cent article, such a clerk shows it immediately. At the same time he also shows the better article, explaining the difference and telling frankly and honestly why it is advisable to buy the merchandise of quality. If he features quality in every sale and if his reasoning is clear and logical, the customer will take the better goods nine times out of ten. And in the tenth instance the cheaper article can be disposed of. INCITING CUSTOMER CONFIDENCE. However, what to me seems the very essence of good salesmanship is the art of inciting customers' faith in our judgment. Much depends on the way a customer is received when he enters the shop, and on knowing how to take him and make him understand that his particular purchase is of especial interest to us. This method of competing with the five- and ten-cent stores is one for which those concerns have no definite comeback. They are "volumeof-sales" institutions selling hundreds of different articles and employing numerous rather poorly-paid clerks of little sales-creative ability-mostly girls who have no desire to make the business their life-work and who, therefore, strive to please the boss only enough to hold onto their jobs until prospective husbands come to view. Employees in such stores do not and cannot get to know their customers as individuals and make them feel that they are remembered and their purchases appreciated. The druggist and his clerks, in most instances, should and do remember customerstheir individualities and peculiarities—their likes and dislikes-what they are in the habit of buying—and make them feel that they are important to the store. Eventually these people can be brought to come to the drug store for articles formerly purchased from the five- and ten-cent stores, for they will finally have come to see that the druggist can sell the same goods at the same price, better goods at a higher price, and all goods at a fair price. QUALITY AND SERVICE ARE EFFECTIVE WEAPONS. BY GEORGE D. JOHNSON. On one of the busiest corners of an eastern city of over 350,000 population is a drug store. It is in the very heart of the retail district. All around it are big department and general stores carrying cut-rate drug lines, and branches of two or three of the most prosperous five- and ten-cent stores offering cheap toilet articles. A block away is an aggressive chain drug store. This druggist not only stays on a corner where his rent is tremendous, but his business grows. He is subjected to the sharpest kind of competition, and he thrives on it. He is one of these old-fashioned fellows who impress you with the idea that he is in business to serve the public. He has kept in step with progress without sacrificing any of the dignity of his calling. His customers have confidence in him and in his store. They know they can depend upon anything they purchase from him, and they know that they do not have to pay more than they would in one of the sensationally advertised places. It Competition never scared this druggist. rather stirred him on to greater achievements. And there is no reason under the sun why druggists in any city should wince at the competition of general and five- and ten-cent shops. PATRONS LIKE TO HANDLE STOCK. If the druggist studies the methods of fiveand ten-cent stores he will find that they attract people to their establishments by means of window displays and then arouse a purchasing desire by having the stock out where the visitors can handle it. The woman who can pick up a cake of toilet soap or a can of talcum powder in her own hand and look it over is more likely to become a buyer than the one who views the article through glass or sees it on the shelves. The five- and ten-cent store is appealing to the customer through three senses-seeing, feeling, and hearing-and that is always better than an appeal through the sense of sight alone. The general store and the five- and ten-cent store are striving for the distinction of being centers of cheap trading. The druggist can aim for the distinction of conducting a quality store, where the discriminating may purchase high-grade articles and pay no more for them than in the ordinary shops. Quality and service are the druggist's most effective weapons for successful competition. Let him appeal to the customer's sense of caution, ever preaching in his store talk and in his advertisements that it is safe to use anything purchased in his store. The druggist will find a counter of seasonable articles, attractively priced and placed in a prominent part of the store, where all who enter may handle them, a factor in competing with the cheap shops. DAILY SPECIALS. He should have these articles (changed daily) displayed for a few weeks before even mentioning them in his advertisements. He should not treat them as sensational offerings, but as a part of the service he is rendering. After customers start talking about them, he may mention them incidentally in his advertise ments. Let him tell the readers of his announcements that yesterday's customers were able to buy 25-cent tooth-brushes for fourteen cents; that to-day they are buying 40-cent candy for 29 cents, and that every day a new special is displayed. Now and then he can have a regular ten-cent-store article on the table for seven cents, but he should avoid the sensational methods of the cheap stores. There is no need to be lavish with advertising expenditures. Many a careful advertiser can tell his message more effectively in three inches of newspaper space than can another in a whole page. It is not the space that counts so much as the confidence that the announcement inspires. An advertisement that is a personal chat upon one subject is more effective than an announcement that tries to cover everything in the store. The druggist who offers quality and service and impresses upon the public the idea that dependable goods may be purchased in his store at prices no higher than the ordinary shop charges, need not fear the competition of fiveand ten-cent or any other stores. THE GOODS IN ONE PLACE. BY WM. G. GREENAWALI. Not long ago a friend of mine who was about to open a new hardware store was discussing with me the possibilities for getting business. I thought of the many articles in his line which were being sold in the five- and ten-cent stores because the people, instead of going to the nearest hardware dealer, had acquired the habit of looking to those stores to supply their wants. I suggested to my friend that if he would arrange, and advertise, a five- and ten-cent counter he could probably build up a profitable business, and make many a sale which otherwise would go to the five- and ten-cent or department stores. That evening I smiled as I recalled the conversation. I smiled because there came into my mind the question: "Why don't you take your own advice?" I reviewed all the reasons and arguments which I had advanced, and which should apply equally as well to drugs as well as hardware, and decided to practice what I preached. prominently displayed and offered at known prices. I had realized that customers were buying their supplies at these stores without even giving a thought to the fact that the same goods could be obtained at any up-to-date drug store. A PLAN OUTLINED. But after awakening to the possibilities of pursuing similar methods I believe that I can bring to my store many a customer who has been purchasing at the general and five- and ten-cent stores. At any rate I am going to give the plan a trial. One side of my store, in full view of the public, is going to be given over to a display of all the various articles which can be sold for five or ten cents. Included in this show will be nickel and dime packages of spices, ten-cent flavoring extracts, tinctures, oils, liniments, frequently-called-for drugs, etc. The various toilet articles, soaps, talcum powders, and the like need only to be assembled in order to make a good show. By keeping our eyes and ears open we will doubtless find many profitable items which can be added to our line. There are numerous tencent articles which we can handle and which will attract buyers and result in increased business. At that, however, looking for additional lines is hardly necessary, for, by going over a drug-store stock, it is surprising to find how many five- and ten-cent articles are present which are useful in the home and which can be sold at a good profit. But best of all, perhaps, is the fact that a five- and ten-cent counter will bring in many persons who, after they are accustomed to coming into the store, can be developed into regular patrons for other and more profitable merchandise. As a business bringer the scheme has immense possibilities. I am going after the five- and ten-cent trade. HANDLE MORE AND BETTER SIDE-LINES. By W. A. HATCHETT. I can see no good reason for any druggist to fear the competition of five- and ten-cent stores. We have many advantages over them which they can never hope to offset. We can handle all the lines in which they can compete with us, and we can handle to advantage many lines which they cannot carry at all. The main lines on which we feel the com petition of the ten-cent stores are hydrogen peroxide, school supplies, stationery, toilet articles, and soaps. But even the selling of these goods need not bother us if we will grapple with the situation as it stands and combat it by aggressive methods. If, for example, the ten-cent store is offering a twelve-ounce bottle of Blink's peroxide for a dime, we can buy a few of the selfsame twelveounce bottles and sell them at the ten-cent price. If, on the one hand, some of our customers are pleased with the product and it proves to be a repeater in their case-well and good. We have won customers by quantity rather than quality and achieved a reputation for selling goods cheaply. If, on the other hand, our customers don't like the cheap product, we have not indorsed it as being of good quality and can then sell them a better grade and guarantee it. Then we will be known as selling the best there is when the customer is willing to pay for it. The ten-cent stores cannot appeal to the class which are willing to pay for goods of merit. alone. They must confine their efforts to price DRUG-STORE ADVANTAGES. It is needless and useless for us to worry over this kind of competition, for this is an age of keen competition in every field. And we in the drug business have many advantages over our competitors which dealers in other lines do not possess. Never in history has there been more possibilities in the drug business than there is today. Never has there been so wide a range of side-lines for us to stock in order to tempt elusive dimes from the pockets of our customers. We can meet and beat—the competition of five- and ten-cent stores by handling more and better side-lines in a manner that is impossible for the dime stores to duplicate. If our 15and 18-dollar-a-week clerks are not real salesmen we should "can" them and get men who are able to sell the goods, for salesmanship is one of the biggest factors in the retail business to-day. If we have the right goods, salesmanship and service will win every time. POPULAR PRICED GOODS TO THE FRONT. BY ARTHUR GEORGE. In some drug stores when a relief clerk makes his initial appearance he must first be taken around and introduced to various hiding. places before he can locate even such a commonly-called-for article as a Seidlitz powder. What should be popular-selling goods are tucked away in almost inaccessible places such as the "last drawer down" or the "highest shelf up." When stocks are arranged that way it is little to be wondered that five- and ten-cent stores get the business. The managers of those concerns realize the importance of prominent display and show their wares on counter and show-cases before the eyes and within easy reach of every customer who enters the establishment. But if the druggist gets away from the oldtime methods of "hidden" display and forces popular-priced articles on the attention of people who enter the store he will find that ten-cent-store competition isn't much of a detriment after all. As a starter for getting trade coming his way the druggist can go over his stock-with a fine-tooth comb, figuratively-and dig out all QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CONTEST. This department is in the hands of the big family of BULLETIN readers, and the heartiest co-operation is earnestly urged. The following questions are announced for the next contest: 1. What is your hobby? Submitted by Nora I. Mitchell, Sparta, Mich. 2. How do you develop young boys into efficient, reliable, and enthusiastic clerks? Submitted by Alfred Kristiansen, Stanley, Wis. For the best answer to either of these questions we shall award a prize of $5.00. Other answers, if printed, will be paid for at regular space rates. Every answer must be at least 500 words long and in our hands by May 10. We also need some new questions for this department. One dollar will be paid promptly for every accepted question. the new, old, shop-worn or slow-moving stuff that can be sold for ten cents. It is surprising, almost, to find how many items from the average stock can be retailed for such a small sum. Then if the most prominent case, the one near the front door, for instance, is decorated with these goods, it won't be long before they begin to move and make profits for the store. PRICE-CARDS HELP. A good-sized, neatly printed card of course should state the price and call attention to the values shown. After the display has run for about two weeks, a shift should be made to five-cent or perhaps to twenty-five-cent articles. gotten rid of and customers will be impressed with the variety of merchandise carried by the store. Among the articles suitable for display on such a counter are combs, brushes, hand-scrubs, sponges, soaps, vaselin, perfumes, face powders, tooth-pastes, and household drugs of various kinds in small packages. These goods are all popular sellers and in addition are articles which are featured strongly by the fiveand ten-cent stores. The whole secret, if anything so obvious can be called a secret, is to have the goods where customers can't help seeing them. And this is doubly true if the customers are women—the sex which does most of the drug-store buying. In this way much slow-moving stock can be THE DRUGGIST WHO REFUSED TO WAKE UP. BY AMOS WOODBURY RIDEOUT. The writer once wandered into a village where there was one drug store. This village was the center of a community where many people lived and where there was much business activity. I went into the drug store and found the druggist sitting beside the stove reading a book. It was a small, old-fashioned store. As a better protection from the weather (it was winter) the druggist had caused to be erected at the entrance a "storm-door." It helped to keep out the cold, but it may have kept some customers out also. It was not an inviting entrance. I went outside, and as I stood there I fancied that I could see Opportunity knocking at the storm-door, not once but many times. There was a small regiment of Opportunities, in fact. They rapped at the door, they peered in at the windows, but the druggist sat by the stove reading his book. Perhaps his wants were simple and he may have made money enough-deponent sayeth not. After a while the trolley-car came dipping and grumbling along and I climbed aboard and rode away, leaving the druggist still reading his book. Some two years afterward I arrived in that town again-this time on a bright June morning. The old store was there, but what was that on the opposite side of the square? The plate-glass windows of a new and up-to-the-minute drug store! Tenfoot soda fountain, silent salesman show-cases, periodical stand, post-card racks, everything necessary to serve the public-these were there. Genial proprietor, too, and two clerks, and trade coming right through the door! Just what my old friend thought about it I do not know. But he had more time than ever to read his book. |