Sam Lambert and the New Way Store | Page 5

"Before we remodelled their store, they had a lot of money tied up in
stock piled under the tables like you have. Most of it was odds and
ends--left overs of many seasons that Jones knew even a clearance sale
would not clean up.
"He inventoried the lot and shipped 72 dozen pair of knee pants to New
York, and wrote the auctioneer to send a check for whatever amount
they brought.
"The funny part of it, Sakes never discovered that the stock was gone
until about three weeks later, when he noticed a check in the mail and

asked Jones what it was for.
"You can do the same thing, Mr. Stucker, with your stock under the
tables, and the check you will get will help buy New Way sectional
shelving that will give you about three times the capacity your
furnishing department has now; so it will not be necessary to climb to
the ceiling for your active stock or dig under the tables for your out of
season goods.
"Before we discuss detail, Mr. Lambert," continued the salesman, "I
have something to say about the practical arrangement of the inside of
the store.
"The business of a store is to sell goods. A customer may come in for
one item. You want him to buy two or three or a half a dozen. The
easier you make it for him, the less he has to cross and recross the store
to complete his purchases--the more goods you will sell him.
"What you want--what every merchant wants--and what few have--is a
practical, natural selling arrangement of the goods.
"The invention of a practical wardrobe merely made the right plan
possible.
"Our business is to suggest the plan and fit the wardrobe arrangement
to the needs of a store.
"Every clothing store has its own individuality. Each problem must be
worked out on the ground with a full knowledge of the stock and the
business, the history of the store, the nature of its trade and the
personality of its proprietor."
Sam's interest was excited. This point of view was new to him, but he
could see the truth of it and he was impatient to get at the heart of the
matter as far as his own store was concerned.
"You're right," he said, "about the personality and individuality of a
store; and for that reason don't tell me to put the furnishing goods

shelving down the middle of the store. This is a clothing store and not a
haberdashery."
"Mr. Lambert," said the salesman, "you have hit the nail squarely on
the head. This is a double room, a very different problem from that of a
single store. I looked over the place of one of your competitors this
morning. He also has a double store with much the same arrangement
as yours and I find that he is making a mistake--adopting a plan that is
about five years behind the times.
"You see, in the earlier days of the wardrobe, there was no such thing
as a center wardrobe. Therefore the clothing had to be hung against the
wall in pull-out cabinets. When the clothing went to the side walls the
furnishings had to move to the center floor space.
"Such an arrangement is not practical for a double store and the effect
is bad. It kills the first impression of a big store. The shelving will look
bare if it is not trimmed, and if it is trimmed your big double room
looks like two small stores divided by a wall.
"The center shelving will always have stock boxes piled on top and that
will throw one side of the store always in shadow. Besides, this
arrangement divides the trade and screens half of it from view.
"The stock is cut in two and looks small.
"One salesman can not wait on the furnishing goods trade without
neglecting half of it all the time. If you have two clerks, a customer
must be taken from one side to the other for his ties or underwear, and
there you are again, both on one side at the same time.
"If another customer came along they'd have to stop in the middle of a
sale and refer him to a clerk around in the other aisle.
"A furnishing goods department should be continuous. The sale of a
shirt will lead to the purchase of a tie or a collar or hosiery. The goods
should be in sight so that they automatically suggest themselves.

"You enter this store and the first impression you get is a big clothing
store. That is what you want. Clothing dominates the store. Furnishing
goods and hats are important and necessary side lines. No one would
mistake it for a haberdasher's. You have been known from