COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE EXTENSION DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY D. APPLETON & COMPANY 142441443. PREFACE One of the most important occupations, from the standpoint of the number of people employed, is the business of retail distribution. Very little in an educational way has as yet been done in this country for the people engaged in this business. It is true that a comparatively few far-seeing employers have for many years done what they could to give their salespeople training with the purpose of increasing their efficiency; and of late years a few public schools and some private schools have offered instruction in retail selling. For the most part, however, retail salespeople have had no training for their work except what they acquired through experience; and there have been few sources of information for the retail merchant who wished to supplement his own experience by learning of the experiences of others. Nevertheless, the business of retail selling is one that demands for successful administration a wide range of special knowledge. This special knowledge of the problems of the retail store and of the better methods of merchandising can be acquired in much the same way as the special knowledge necessary in other business activities. Some of it, of course, can be learned only from experience, but much of it can be taught and learned without the waste of time and money that is unavoidable when one's own experience is the only teacher. Surely, wide experience is essential for success in retailing as in anything else, but, just as surely, that experience can V |