MORE HOSIERY NEXT YEAR

Southland Times, Issue 24575, 25 October 1941, Page 6

MORE HOSIERY NEXT YEAR

POSITION EXPECTED TO BE EASIER NO NEED FOR PANIC BUYING Next year the women of New Zealand should not be bothered by the acute shortage of hosiery that has been one of the worries of their lives this year, and there should be no repetition of panic buying. That, according to one Invercargill retailer, ought to be the result of the decision of the Government to grant hosiery import licences for the sixth period, which covers next year, on the basis of 100 per cent, of 1938 imports from the United Kingdom. He said that stocks under these licences could not be brought into the country before next year, but when they did arrive he thought there would be an adequate supply provided there was no panic buying. It was panic buying that had caused the shortage this year. He did not think there would be a repetition of this. There would be more hosiery available, and besides retailers today would not sell a large number of stockings to one customer as had been done at the height of the panic buying, when some women bought as much as £lO worth of hosiery. The rule today was one customer, one pair. The retailer added that he did not think there would be much difficulty in getting supplies of hosiery from the United Kingdom in spite of the fact that some factories had stopped manufacturing while others were finding difficulty in getting supplies of raw material. There were large stocks of hosiery “frozen” in the Old Country. They could not be sold there, and, though a considerable proportion of this supply had been sold to countries outside the sterling bloc, supplies were also available for sale to New Zealand. At least his firm had had no difficulty in getting all it required under the sixth period licences. Another retailer, however, expressed the opinion that firms that did not have an option with Home manufacturers might find difficulty in filling their requirements. At the same time he thought that taking New Zealand as a whole the position would be much easier next year than it had been this year, for, apart from the larger imports, New Zealand manufacturers had increased their production. In the circumstances he could see no need for panic buying.