FINE DEPARTMENT STORE

Southland Times, Issue 24003, 19 December 1939, Page 13

FINE DEPARTMENT STORE

EXCELLENT VALUES AT H. & J. SMITH’S OUTSTANDING QUALITY OF N.Z. GOODS Regarded as one of the best department stores in New Zealand, H. and J. Smith Ltd. are again to the forefront in providing the Christmas shopper with an amazing range of first-class goods. If Smith’s have not got what is wanted, then it is doubtful if can be obtained at a similar store in the Dominion. Internal improvements since last Christmas ensure buying in, comfort and with remarkable expedition. At Smith’s careful planning is in evidence, the staff is active and alert, and one of the most up-to-date systems of handling cash sales has been installed. No wonder Christmas shoppers leave the tramcar when it stops in front of this efficiently-run store. For many years Smith’s buyers have explored the world’s markets in search of merchandise, but this year they have had to curtail their activities because of the import restrictions. Something had to be done to replace goods that could not be imported, so representatives of the firm scoured New, Zealand, travelling by land, sea and air, with the result that the week preceding Christmas finds the store adequately stocked, as in past years. A tour of the vast store reveals how well'New Zealand manufacturers have risen to the occasion and supplied goods that in previous years had to be imported. Both in workmanship and in price these goods compare very favourably with

British and foreign products. For example, in the china department there is a range of neatly-finished trays of attractive design that make ideal presents. Similar trays were previously bought from a foreign country.. Then on another stand is a selection of electrical goods—kettles, toasters, jugs, immersers, to mention but a few—made in Christchurch. In appearance and performance they are equal to anything imported. From Akaroa come delightful trinkets and tokens made from New Zealand fuchsia, including serviette rings, powder bowls, cigarette and other boxes, all of which make suitable gifts. Brooches and clasps made from paua shells are among other novelties likely to be in demand this week. ATTRACTIVE DISPLAY As soon as one Christmas is over Smith’s representatives get busy preparing for the next, and although they were restricted in their choice this year they were able to obtain licences for a wide range of Christmas goods from different parts of the world. In one corner of the shop is a comprehensive assortment of cosmetics arranged in such an attractive manner that few women could pass them by without first pausing to look them oyer. Another example of New Zealand workmanship is to be found at the glove counter. If a pair of New Zealand gloves were placed alongside a pair made in Hungary or Czechoslovak! very few shoppers could tell which was which. The finish of the New Zealand glove is equal to that of the foreign and there is hardly any difference in the “feel.” In value, too, the New Zealand article holds its own. Other New Zealand contributions to this year’s Christmas gifts are leather handbags and shopping bags, good stocks of which are carried. Hosiery is a popular form of present, and here again a large proportion of the stock was made in the Dominion. Manufacturers have also made a firstclass job of slippers in various colours which would brighten even the dullest fireside. With the slippers go cartons, which are just the thing for wrapping up and posting. Walt Disney’s Snow White meal time sets are bound to meet with a great demand from mothers. In the toy section, which is presided over by a benign Santa Claus, who hands out gifts from the lucky dips, there is a good variety of the things children adore and invariably look for on Christmas morning. However, those mothers who have been discreetly informed that a doll would be acceptable will have to shop early as there is a limited supply this year.

INVERCARGILL LAMPSHADES Gifts which can be put to practical use in the house are always in demand, for which Smith’s are well prepared. Fancy towels, neatly packed in boxes and attractive breakfast cloths are among an extensive range of novelties in this section. Hard by are parchment lampshades made in Invercargill. The workmanship is first class and there is a pleasing variety of colours and designs. The exdellent demand for these shades indicates that they are a popular form of Christmas gift this year. Not so very long ago men’s sports shirts were either white, cream or grey, but a taste for brighter colours has now been acquired by the men and, of course, Smith’s are catering for it. The wife or girl friend in search of a sports shirt would be unwise to buy before seeing the assortment at Smith’s. Other gifts for men that are very popular include handkerchiefs (also of many colours), ties and pyjamas. In the same department is to be found the ideal gift for the Contract Bridge player—the Autobridge set. Both the beginner and the advanced player will find Autobridge of absorbing interest. Deal sheets are inserted into a playing board, the suits and numbers of the cards being shown through slots, which are uncovered as the hand is being played. Anyone in search of a useful present should not fail to inspect the Autobridge set. There are, of course, numerous other articles eminently suitable for presents for men, women and children cr all ages. It would be impossible in an article of this kind to fo into great detail; the main purpose here is to encourage the perplexed shopper to visit Smith’s. Once there the rest is easy. An added attraction this week is the singing of Christmas carols in the tea room by a choir of 10 boys, pupils of Mr Kennedy Black, the presentations being described as “Christmas as Charles Dickens Knew It.” With an old English setting as the background, the singers wear the clothing of Dickens’s time, while the waitresses are all in gingham frocks. The balance of the choir is admirable, and the clear, fresh voices are a delight to listen to. No article on H. and J. Smith’s would be complete without reference to the amazingly efficient office organization. OFFICE EFFICIENCY A place of such size must necessarily employ a huge staff, and the actual

running of the business is in the hands of a department that has at its command modem calculating machines that reduce the margin of error to the ultimate zero. Every transaction is mechanically recorded by a host of skilful young operators with the ledger posting and sales analysis machines, which work almost as if they could think for themselves. A mechanical contrivance stamps every envelope, and an operator feeds the envelopes into another machine which gums them down. The general office, a spacious, wellaired room, is on the first floor at the north-west corner of the big building. At the far end of it, separated from the main office, sit the cashiers, who are at one end of a recently-installed pneumatic tube system. Containers from the counters are continually humming through to the cashiers, whose nimble fingers handle the docket and the cash so that in a matter of only seconds the customer receives his change. It takes only five seconds for a container to reach the cashiers from the farthest point of the office—and that point is nearly a block away in Esk street. As soon as a cashier ' has stamped the docket and placed the change in the container she tosses it into a chute and it is carried by a belt along to the despatches who places it, according to the number, into the tube that will take it back to the counter from which it came. Five cashiers can be employed at rush periods. A different container carries the dockets when a customer has booked goods. Just before it reaches the cashier it automatically drops into another section of the tube and is whisked through to the authorizing desk and emitted to waiting girls. Nearly everything in the main office is driven by electricity. Behind the scenes are other interesting departments that work unseen by the general public, who see only the results of their work. An artist is kept working full time on designs for advertising blocks and posters, models are prepared for exhibition in the show windows, and new ideas are tried out and experiments are conducted before the finished object is placed on display. Christmas comes and goes, the new ideas have been submitted to the public and preparations are under way once more for next Christmas.