DRAPERS’ WINTER SALES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18592, 28 June 1922, Page 3

DRAPERS’ WINTER SALES

GOOD BUSINESS PASSING. PRICES TENDING DOWNWARDS. Some inquiries were made by a Daily 'limes reporter yesterday as te the winter sales which arc at present being conducted by (ho drapers and the future trend oi prices. ‘‘Considering the weather we have had during the last few days,” said the manager of one firm, “there has been quite a good volume of business passing, and the results of the opening day of our sale were quite equal to those of last year. L ndor the circumstances this is very satisfactory. As to the conditions generally,” added the speaker, "we are quite optimistic, and we have reason to believe that the general tendency of prices is downward, and that consequently the amount of business passing will increase. A pleasing feature of our trade at the present time is that money is coming in. very freely, and in several cases accounts which were written off some years ago are now being paid.” Another draper who was interviewed said that he was selling on a lower scale of prices this year than last year, but the total turn-over of business was considerably larger. Selling had been much easier this year, because the customers made their purchases without accompanying them by the complaints against high prices which they formerly used to voice. While there might be a temporary hardening of prices in a number of lines there was a tendency throughout the trade for prices to show a steady and gradual decline. The British and foreign manufacturers of to-day were endeavouring to produce their goods at a more reasonable price, and although the 1914 level might never again be reached prices would inevitably recede to some extent. Touching on the question of sales, the speaker said that it was a well-recog-nised feature of the local trade that if articles of a good quality were offered at reduced prices they found a ready sale, whereas aheap lines of inferior quality aroused very little excitement among the customers. “Most of the shrewd housewives in Dunedin,” he stated, “are quite conversant with the methods of the drapers, and aa a result they do most of their buying during our special efforts. So far as the George street drapers are concerned,” ho added, “I can safely state that they have had a very good year.” Drapers, in common with those engaged in other branches of trade, not infrequently suffer from the attentions of pillagers, and one glaring example of their depredations was brought under the notice of our reporter. A case of men’s suits had been, consigned from Wellington, and it was found on arrival that not only had several articles been pillaged, but a couple of suits, which had evidently proved refractory in their removal from the case, had been released by the simple process of being severed by means of a pocket knife. Needless to say, both the suits and the remnants had been rendered utterly valueless by this act tf vandalism.