CHAIN STORES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 244, 15 October 1936, Page 6

CHAIN STORES

INDUSTRIES COMMITTEE INQUIRY DAIRY CO-OP. OPPOSITION (Per press Association | WELLINGTON, Oct. 4. Further evidence of opposition to traders who petitioned Parliament asking for the control of chain stores 1 was heard by the Industries' Committee to-day, when W. Free appeared on behalf ot the National Dairy Association and called C. H. Backhouse, the general manager and secretary. He said that the association had seen the advantage ot building up a complete co-operative system, whicn would take cream from farmers and place it as butter in the housewives’ basket without the intervention ot any but co-operative institutions. At that time it held the New Zealand agency for the the manufactured goods of the Co-operative Wholesale Society oi England and saw in the development of a purely customers’ movement in New Zealand an opportunity of securing a degree of reciprocal trade between the co-operatsvc movement in Britain and co-operatively organised ' dairy producers in New Zealand. A ; questionnaire had been sent to 215 factories, but owing to the shortness ' of the time available only 69 replie.had been received. Of these 44 statefl that they were not in competition with local traders, and 25 stated that j they carried on general storekeeping. | From the information received it was I apparent that these factories were : working on a margin of profit comparable with that prevailing in the retail trade. He said that retailers had ' no complaint unless it was that dairy I company trading was a success He I denied that there was any unfair : trading on the part of the factories, I and said that the tendency in the cus- ' tomer-owned store was towards a 1 fuller service at all times. Picking I the eyes out of the trade resulted from > the quest for profit, and the co-opera-tive body was primarily concerned with service.