SELLING EMPIRE GOODS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19616, 21 October 1925, Page 11

SELLING EMPIRE GOODS.

WISDOM OF PUBLICITY.

RETAILER’S EXPERIENCE

USEFUL INFORMATION.

(From Ocr Own Correspondent.) LONDON, September 3,

A retailer who is making an experiment in running a shop for the sale of Empire foodstuffs in Buxton gives some valuable information regarding her experiences, and puts her finger on some of the weak points which will havo to bo remedied if tho public and retailers are to do their parts in increasing the sale of Empire produce. In a letter to The Times she writes: "Local retailers assured me that I was undertaking a hazardous task in attempting to rely on (.ho sale of Empire foods, and that it would be impossible in any case to run this business at a profit. Probably the last contention will prove to be true for some time to come, a"nd if it were not that I am also providing freshly-cooked foods—English, of course—and some special lines for invalids, it would be impossible to regard my venture as a commercial proposition at all. "The first difficulty is that the consumer is guided by price and quality first and foremost and all the tiuje. Many people will deliberately buy foreign condiments or fruits, oither because the price is a penny or more cheaper than the Empire commodity or because they are accustomed to a particular article arid do not desire to try a change. The imagination of the average housewife has not yet been stimulated to realise what a self-supporting Empire could mean for the nation. Some who realise it appear to think that the responsibility for Imperial buying should rest with their neighbours rather than themselves, and while they may come in for a pound of York ham or 'English pressed beef they still prefer to buy Californian peaches, American tomato sauce. French tinned beans, or Italian semolina, when the Empire produces similar commodities which for purity and flavour are ahead of foreign products. DIFFICULTY WITH WHOLESALERS. "A small retailer like myself is terribly handicapped in attempting to push Empire commodities. So far as I can ascertain, no single firm of wholesale distributors handles the whole range of Empire products. To obtain anything like a representative range of articles one has to seek out a dozen wholesale firms, and then buy in bulk, and for cash, goods that may remain on one's hands for an indefinite period. The only alternative is to purchase on wholesale terms from one or two of the big stores which specialise in Dominion foodstuffs at a price so near the retail charges that after meeting overhead expenses, etc., the small margin of profit is practically wiped out. If the Government are determined to undertake propaganda for the popularisation of Empire foodstuffs it is equally necessary that there should lie'a ccntrai clearing' house for the whole range of Empire products from which the small retailer could obtain terms that would allow him to live. A leading firm from whom I obtain some of my English tinned foods allow me goods on sale or return and a nionthlv credit. If I could receive similar treatment from a distributing firm for Empire goods I feel confident that I have only to iokl on in order to achieve a real success. vVhy should not the dominions' represent;'t'ves in London take the initiative? All the millions snent on Wembley will have been wasted unless you can follow up (he lessons of Wembley in a practical way before they are forgotten." WISDOM OF PUBLICITY. That a little publicity in the columns of the daily papers goes a long way to stimulate interest in Empire buying is shown bv a letter from Mr T. W. King, general manager of the Haymarket Stores, a firm which stocks Empire food. Mr King writes to The Times: "You will, I feel sure, bo interested to learn that, as a result of the letters published in your columns on Thursday last in the correspondence 'Ladies and Empire Produce,', we have received over 100 inquiries for lists and details of British Empire products, which we think emphasises the fact that the public are interested in securing British Empire goods. In this store we have a special department exclusively devoted to British Empire products, which enables the public to sen at a glance exactly what can be supplied from this source."