THE TRADE YEAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 January 1924, Page 6

THE TRADE YEAR.

A STEADY IMPROVEMENT. MERCHANTS WELL SATISFIED. GOOD PRICES FOR PRODUCE. CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTUREMerchants trading in Taranaki are •Yeh satisfied with the trade of the past year. The returns do not by any mean® constitute a record or a boom, but there has been a big improvement all round and a steady approach to a normal condition of trade. The year closed with a more confident tone than has been the case since the elump o£ 1921 gave *uch & set-back after the boom year of 1920. Throughout the year the money market was tight, particularly during the winter, and this had the effect of keeping trade within circumscribed bounds. If money is hard to get the natural result « that the purchasing power of the public falls off, and retailers therefore keep, or should keep, a check on their purchases of stocks. This is what happened during last year to a very great extent. The manager of one warehouse, however, told a Daily News reporter yesterday that as far as he could judge bis returns for the*>ear were up to the peak reached during the boom- Tn fact they had been at that height ever since 1920, but he considered that his case was an exception, as none of the other branches of the firm had been able to keep up to that years returns. GROWTH OF TRADE STEADY. Concerning the growth in the volume ©f trade throughout the province, t•? jnanager of another house which has an ■extensive country as well as town business, pointed ou£ that a startling growth could hardly be looked for. He Mirew attention to the report that the accession to the population nf Taranaki, cutside of the natural increase by reason of excess of births over deaths, had been only 700 odd during the past five jye.trs. “Where arc we to find the extra customers for the goods that big trade returns all round would require?” he ««ked. Answering hi® own question, he. said the position, simply put, was that the traders who were doing greater business were doing it at the expense of their competitors. “We are all biting cn the same apple,” he said, “but some of us, by better buying, better marketing and more up-to-date business methods, are getting bigger bites than otners.” Continuing with relation to his own b: -;n*-ss, that of soft goods, the man■g r stated that he was very satisfied with his returns for the year, and the p üblic had shown a better disposition to spend- There had been an easing in values on most of his lines, although there was now a hardening tendency on th miekct for cotton and woollen in the grocery business, which reflects in a great measure the prosperity oi the people, a good year was also report -kI. The year opened with people baring just enough for immediate requirement-. and this policy of hand to couth buying continued through the Winter until well on into the spring. PRICES OF NECESSARIES. The succeeding months showed a great improvement, the auspieiou= opening of the dairying season being almost immediately reflected in the trading returns. Prices on the whole remained fairly level es far as the public was concerned. A flight reduction in -ome lines was as r>ftcn as not set off by an increase in the price of some other articles. This flr.ts particularly noticeable in the ca«e of butter and sugar, both of which are mow being quoted at an advance on the rates ruling at the beginning of 1923 fTo the majority of people the increase 5n the price of these commodities almost entirely eliminates any saving that may Jbe effected in purchases of other grocery lines les® used. What does the vear 1924 hold? Tn fell cases the traders interviewed exFwessed confidence in the future. “There has never been a time to my knowledge,” one eaid, “'when there has been confidence in the future as there is to-day.” That the year will prove a ftood trading year is anticipated, but at jthe same time a note of warning was >truck. Heedful of the disßstrcus slump ;which followed the boom prices for priUnary products, the traders spoken to -expressed the hope that the high prices ♦which are at present ruling for dairy produce and wool will not lead to another reaction. They stated that the Jnarket pendulum must take a corresponding swing in the orher direction, Jbut if reasonable care and foresight ■were used in d< al’ng with the money low being obtained for the primary products the reverse swing should not -(seriously affect the province.