SHOPPING EARLY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20116, 29 November 1928, Page 13

SHOPPING EARLY.

AVOIDING CHRISTMAS RUSH. ADVANTAGES TO THE PUBLIC. CAIN OF FULL SELECTION. Procrastination is a human failing, and seldom is it seen more clearly than in the general tendency to put off all tho Christmas buying until the holidays nro close at hand, when shopping is conducted under all tho disadvantages of crowded counters, and overworked assistants. Fortunately not all the community are of this disposition, and the thoughtful ones are already making the round of tho shops which they intend to patronise in selecting their special i Christmas requirements. So far as the public itself is concerned there aro several distinct advantages in adopting this course, and no disadvantages that are apparent to a casual observer. First and foremost is tho wider range of goods from which to mako a selection, for the importers carefully estimate the likely requirements, and so arrange their indents and local purchases that their stocks are reduced to a minimum when they close on Christmas Eve. Tho lesson is obvious: Thoso who leavo their buying until tho last day have the smallest and poorest choice, and those who buy this week havo tho best selection from which to choose. During the last few days the shops have been increasingly thronged with buyers who recognise the advantage of making their selection from full counters and shelves, but it is very evident that the usual waiting policy is being adopted by the great number who have not yet realised that they are only penalising themselves by the delay. Tho early buyers have the advantage of eager assistants to attend to their wants. Assistants are only human, and they take just as much pleasuro as their customers do in unfolding rolls and opening up boxes of all the novelties. By the time Christmas is near they will have almost lost this personal touch, which now makes them so willing to study their customers' varied tastes. In the rush of attending to several at a time they cannot possibly bo expected to do justice to individual tastes, nor to the depleted stocks which they still have to offer. At that timo they can be pardoned for making it their chief aim to effect a sale as quickly as possible, and to get on with the next customer. It is not only for its own sake that tho public would do well to buy early, for it owes a little to the careful assistants who attend to its wants throughout the year. Shopping facilities were never better in Auckland than they are this year. Prices are favourable, qualities are right, and there i 3 an exceptionally wide range of styles and materials in all departments. Even the absence of ready cash need not stand in the way, for goods will willingly be put aside for a week or two. Tho great thing for the public to realise is that from every point of view it has everything to gain and nothing to lose by setting about ks shopping as early as possible.