GOOD FOR TRADE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 87, 6 January 1908, Page 8

GOOD FOR TRADE.

1 A RECORD CHRISTMAS SEASON. ! RETAILERS DELIGHTED, t The trade' at ..Christmastime, compare ' with previous ycar-ond seasons, is not an ur i trustworthy thermometer Jn jregard .to th 1 recording; of how'..things, are." '• Such'bein i the caso, a Dominion representative, made,ill f quiries.from shop-keepers and- proprietors'o 1 retail warehouses as to. .what '' the • holida; ! ..trade, had- been like and. how it.comparei . with tho. merry.-Christmases .the memory, o , which is more or less obscured by 'Time' : offacing hand. -It is gratifying tb learn tha the Christmas and/New.Year* season,' whicl may be'considered" to have ended on Satur day, lias been a record one for Wellington ' .On all sides tho answers ; were given with th utmost readiness, accompanied by a certaii •lighting up of the countenance that uncon sciously reflected'the-bright,'gold' that hac been acquired, during tho . past.'■ fort-nigh' from a particularly free-handed'. public. Thf fact that the " giving records have.all-bee? 'broken in Wellington last' year—Ambiilaricf Saturday and Hospital; Sunday, the Salvatior Army Self-Denial Etind, etc., ;have' all' pui up new redoes—and that., this should' be crowned by a great Christmas'for-trade ' indicates a high degree', "of prosperity and., a'r 'optimistic 'outlook. for' the' immediate future. If further proof were needed (though ."'the case may be considered proved), one had onlj to analyse the Christmas crowds to find that things were nover bettor than they wore last year, and, despito all argument ,to the contrary, the spending power of' the ' people seems-rather, to bo increasing than decreasing. THE BOOT TRADE. Mr.'Robert "Hannah, who is one of this biggest men in the boot business in Now Zealand, informed a reporter that since he had been-in business lie had experienced some good Christmases, but the one just past had eclipsed, all others, not only in: Wellington, but throughout tho , country, whore the firm has branch establishments. They had expected a "very busy Christmas, and their, branch managers had foreseen a good time, • hilt it exceeded all expectations- in the wealth of trade it; brought-. As he was saying to. ah old friend the other day, it remindeahim of tho Christmas of 1869. at. Charleston, on tho West Coast—a place that would make a good understudy for Ggldsmith's Deserted' Village now, but which, in the old days, was a roaring mining centro.. In . • The days of. old,'.'the 'days- of 'gold;'' . . .The. days. of 'Gil." tho Christmas ipash r up at, Charleston (where Mr. Hannah was iii business) was a phenomenally good one, and .consequently the place' went wild on Christmas Eve,' and tlio miners spent • their-. money like' water., .So , hard-' pressod' wero the banks-rwhich .included the Bank of New South Wales, Union-Bank, and Bank of New;: Zealand—for.-, coin, that they ,had .to call ] on. their clients, ..to help them out, for whilst,,gold..was', plentiful- tho -cbin in circulation was . limited.-.,,Tliey. made,, the first ;call at -.noon on .Christmas. .Eve, tlie. second at 3 p.m.,'arid' still|"inothdr,'at',.ll o^clock -at night, so that 'shopkeepers ;-niust have, ih..':a. good,'-many.- case's, .'.'received' the samo money over arid over again. ' : A' DRAPER'S' STORY. The .holiday takings) at - the. "Economic'.' exceeded, all previous records, and -the man-' agomeiit can scarcely; imagine how they, could havo "done moro during, tho busy days, for the place was simply packed with customers. On jthis occasion, tho 'toy and doll- department were extended, with tho. result that' the receipts for such sales exceeded the previous year by. £1604-and one can buy quite a lot of. toys with such a sum. All that was loft unsold are contained in a' little 10ft. bv 10ft. room. THE TRADE IN JEWELLERY. .Chatting with Mr.. H|slop, manager for Messrs. Stewart.and .Dawson, the reporter' elicited the fact, that the Christmas trade this year.,.had exceeded, their,, fondest anticipations. The whole year, in fact, had been a. record one, so far as, his firm was concerned, and ho understood, that others had been equally well satisfied. ■ " Our business 'for the year has.beeri better by 20.'per'ceiit. 1 ! than' the provious year;" said Mr. Hislop, ' Asked if- tlie" public tasto with regard, to gifts had changed in. any way, the speaker said tho experience of the past two or'th'reo. yqars. showed- that tho public were being educated up -to a higher standard. The tendency nowadays was to purchase good'articles. ' Mr. Ross, who does a large trade in popular lines of gifts, expressed himself as being highly satisfied with' tho season's;, business, the amount of orders for, engraved articles being unusually heavy; IN.CUBA STREET. N The heads of . the various. fijnun in -.Cub'a Street.smiled when the roporter stated, his business. ■ . . .'Mr.-Voitch,-of tho drapery firm-of Veitch and Allan, said that- they.'had handlod'a record business. The trade would havo been oven better, lie .'.thought, had'it..'riot been that a good many sheep' farmers had forwarded their season's clip to London direct, instead of placing it on. the local..market. This meant that they would ;not get l their returns-until later.. ' . ~ Mr. Bush,. maiiager..of tho Union Clothing Company,, contented himself with a, smiling endorsement of what ,the others had said. He was perfectly satisfied. . •' • . As . regards tho ironmongery, trade, goodbusiness was .done. . Replying* to , the reporter's question, Mr. George Winder said t.liat the trade bad been a record one. His awn, firm had done unusually well, on ac30unt of their sale, but-he considered that, Dven under normal conditions, the business would. have beaten previous years. People seemed to. be going in for heavier goods. Most of their Christmas sales had been big irticlos. "Thero.seoms to be plenty "of money ibout," ( said tho reporter. : "Yes, that is. so," replied. Mr. Winder, :l bnt..there is also moro to do with it. Sinco :,ho opening of the'tramway system, and.tho jstablishment of pleasure resorts, a good deal )f money flows in those 'directions." OTHER INQUIRIES. Mr. Christeson, tobacconist, of Manners Street, was busy with his cash-balanco, .but io beamed .on the reporter, and, in. reply ;o a question as to how J>o had "co'nio out )f the holiday season, said, as. ho swopt a iliining heap of . tho "filthy lucro" into a yag. "Kapai, kapai." ■ Mr. Len M'Konzio, chemist, of Manners Street,. considered, that .the. members of; his irofessipn had vory. little to growl about. !t had been a good year. Messrs. Ward ell Bros, and . Mr. , Edward \ndnrson, of, Willis ! Street,- and numerous >tlier prosperous traders, all -had tho same ;aio to tell. They had donp well; better ,han they had ever done before. Thero.was lot a discordant note, raised'in the joyful jhorus, .arid tho .reporter, who began to find iliat there was monotony even, in prosperity, it length desisted in his search for an unlappy tradesman.