SCIENCE OF SELLING

Evening Star, Issue 19276, 15 June 1926, Page 2

SCIENCE OF SELLING

SHOPKEEPING AS A CAREER

ENGLISH SPORTSMAN'S LUCRATIVE SIDE LINE

Tins nation of shopkeepers is apparently determined to live up to its reputation (writes the London correspondent of tho ‘Ago’). However open to criticism its methods of salesmanship in foreign markets may be, it cannot fairly be said that there is any lack of enterprise in presenting its wares on tho homo market. The large stores in London, and to a minor extent those in the provinces, are as eager as any theatrical manager to present now features. Considerable sections of their promises are permanently set aside for demonstration purposes. Some of them have small theatres for parades of mannequins or for displaying the merits of electrical appliances or tho latest things in labor-saving devices for the kitchen. They are, indeed, rapidly becoming more like exhibitions than mere shops. No one who ventures to stroll casually through' the various departments can progress far before ho is invited to interest himself in this or that, but the last thing that is expected of him is to purchase on the spot the artificial sunlight apparatus or whatever it may do that is pressed upon his notice. The engaging assistants are ostensibly solely concerned in a benevolent effort to extend his knowledge regarding the latest achievement that science has contrived for his comfort and wellbeing. Even more noteworthy is the development of putting at* the disposal of patrons the services of recognised exports in various fields of endeavor. An engagement by a leading store is scarcely loss sought after than a run at a West End theatre, and no one who lias achieved fame in any sphere lacks the opportunity _ of raising a few pounds by appearing behind the counter nt a departmental store. Publicity methods are studied as carefully by shop managers as by recognised showmen. A famous mountaineer is engaged to drape himself among the skis and skates and winter_ sports outfits. An explorer in tropical regions can roly on netting more money from a few appearances as “ counterjnmpcr ” than he is likely to raise from tho sale of tho book in which his experiences in unknown lands are recorded. The stage is merely the stepping-stone to higher things, and some famous actresses spend their periods of rest as highly-paid mannequins, or as glorified simp assistants, who serve out tablets of soap or lip salve that will preserve for all time the attractions of those who use these aids to beauty. Miss Gladys Cooper is a notable example. Bbo is not_ merely a great actress. Her fame is, perhaps, even more securely based on the fact that she is a beauty export. Her “ beauty parlor” in Mayfair is resorted to by the elite, who. can afford to pay for her advice, but she is willing to spread her gospel to a wider audience for a consideration, as newspaper articles and answers to questions in a popular women’s magazine bear witness. A bolder enterprise has now almost qualified her for membership of the Shop Assistants’ Union. Recently she completed a tour of leading stores in outlying suburbs of London, whore she met on easy terms those wlmhad fewer opportunities of making a journey to London to consult her. Taking her complexion with her, she demonstrated the value of her cosmetics, and held up her face for examination to crowds to whom in the past she had been a name. Many a young woman has as a result learned invaluable lessons of face management, and Las become so expert that she no longer finds it necessary to ask her friends if ‘‘ her lips are on straight” before setting out to meet tho cruel world. Appearances behind the counter are by no moans confined to women. Men are equally in demand, and sportsmen in particular appear to find engagements at tho store a profitable side line. Selfridge’s have secured the services on a long-term agreement _ of: Basil Foster, of the great cricketing family, to advise their clients on sport. Harrods have set aside a whole floor, and have laid down special cricket pitches and tennis courts for the benefit of all-comers. There you can meet Jack Hobbs and Patsy Hendren, who are ready to bat for you and coach you. Maurice Tate is on hand to show how to swing the ball awayjrom the batsman with such devil in it that it breaks back on to the off sunup. Braund and Samlbam are also available, so that there is the backbone of a fairly sound test eleven ready to meet those who desire the distinction of boasting to their friends that they have played with and against tho giants of'the day. And if your lawn tenuis requires brushing up yon have onlv to step on to tho courts alongside to receive counsel from A. E. Beamish and Miss Padcglia. Other scarcely less conspicuous figures in tho cricket nnd lawn tennis world are on hand at other establishments, and you can, if you choose, master tho intricacies of real tennis or squash or badminton under the supervision of coaches whoso services have boon retained by these super-shopkeepers for that special purpose. Even more important as a permanent development of tho new methods of shopkeeping is tho enterprise shown by some of tho loading “ amateurs ” and professionals in running their oivn shops. Jack Hobbs, like many other great cricketers, has long since had a thriving sports depot of his own, and ho can snap his fingers, for ho is a confessed professional and is in no danger of infringing any rules as to bis status. With tho amateurs it is otherwise. They must bo more discreet in associating themselves openly with the business end of the sport in which they have achieved distinction. _ Tennis. players may apparently receive royalties from rackets bearing facsimiles of their signatures, but they must be more guarded when it comes to sotting up in business. Of course, there nro ways of circumventing the most stringent rules, and only the other day your correspondent was served in a West End shop by n tenuis player whoso name is known the world over. He is an excellent example of tho new school of expert shop assistants that, is growing up. The purpose of tho visit was to have a couple of frayed strings replaced. Having Convinced a junior assistant that the racket, a new one, was at fault, and that the repairs should be undertaken without charge, tlie transaction was taken over by the expert. It was impossible to withstand him. Who could resist flattery by one who had run through half a dozen rounds of the Wimbledon championships? Who would have the hardihood to..check his learned discourse on gut nnd angles of contact and violence of impact, or would protest that the imaginary strokes he" was making with the racket did not accurately represent one’s own pat-ball play? When the writer was told by such an authority that in the hands of “ a hard hitter like him ” the life of a string was necessarily shortened, he gracefully succumbed, as any of bis readers would do, and, instead of getting the job done for nothing, ho left a tensbilling note behind him to pay for having the wretched weapon reconditioned. Salesmen who know not only their own job but that of their customers are steadily changing the # whole character of English shopkeeping. In the old days it was little short of an insult to havo an article recommended hy a condescending assistant behind tlie <;onnter_with the comment that “ 1 always use it myself”; but those days are gone. II Gladys Cooper declares

herself in favor of a certain face cream, who is to gainsay her? and it requires a man of courage to pit _ his knowledge of a cricket bat against that of, say, Basil Foster. It is the same in other spheres. The expert is more and more sought after by the enterprising shopkeepers when engaging their assistants. In the Tottenham Court road furniture emporiums you are treated to a scholarly treatise on the history of various types of furniture and the development of processes of decoration down the centuries when you contemplate making a purchase. The same immaculate young storehouse of knowledge completely disturbs your determination to make do with an inferior carpet by explaining with engaging frankness and with a fine show of disinterestedness the process of manufacture followed in producing the better article. Who, again, would purchase a book from an ordinary bookseller when he can have the advice of one whose name is a household word as a literary critic or author —Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is by no means the only author in London who is also a bookseller, and one could name • half a dozen critics who, in their spare time, sell hooks. And if the counsel of sportsmen and booksellers with special skill is considered useful in guiding purchasers, how much more Hkoly is the opinion of a modiste to carry weight and her taste to be trusted when it is known that she is herself a member of society, and has been presented at court? Lady Dud! Gordon realised this many years ago, when she founded Lucille’s, and her experiences, which were not continuously successful, have not by any means checked the movement for poor aristocrats to open establishments in Boloravia. Ladv Angela Forbes, who is one of them, lias recently taken up the cudgels in their defence against a charge of blacklegging. She declares with much spirit that it is a myth to believe that goods will he sold merely because they are purveyed by titled shopworaen. It is only their superior knowledge of the requirements of customers that enables them to make a The encouragement ivhich in these days is given to men and women with intelligence has attracted a new class of salesman to the counter. The appointments committees that sit at the older universities do not hesitate to offer young graduates some of the higher positions in the retail trade, and it is no uncommon experience to be served in some of the most exclusive bouses by young men with an unaffected Oxford accent. Careers which would have been disdained by their grandfathers and fathers are entered upon by young men to-day with enthusiasm, and salesmanship is studied more keenly than ever before. Perhaps it was the motor car business that set the fashion few stocking Londons show • rooms with well-tailored young men of good address and some scholarship who were eager not merely to understand the commodity in which they were dealing, hut to devote greater care to the psychology of prospective purchasers. It was, at all events, a young man from Cambridge who hit on the successful riea of stimulating the sale in America of a leading British car by advertising it as “the most expensive car in the world.” Whatever the origin of the movement, however, the foolish notion that the retail trade lacks dignty, and is a trifle unworthy of the attention of neoplo with intelligence, has definitely gone by the board, and nowadays no one detects any slur when Napoleon s happy phrase is hurled at the English nation.