But there is no prospect that this elimination of the small retailers will be brought about. The American people are certainly not ready to do it by law, even if they could. We demand the conven ience of the "cOrner store"; furthermore, we are not ready to abandon the competitive system of indus try which permits any man to start in business who sees an opportunity to render a service for which peo ple will be willing to pay. As long as this oppor tunity remains, there will be some small stores that must have the jobber, and these small stores, by the thousand, have proved that they do render a real serv ice, by continuing to do business and to prosper in the face of strong competition from those doing busi ness on a much larger scale.
Finally, it should be remembered that if this semi monopoly in retailing should be accomplished, it might mean the disappearance of the country general store; all country dwellers might have to purchase by mail, or go in person to the county seat or to some other central point in order to find an establishment with a large enough patronage and therefore capable of buying in sufficient quantities to purchase all its stock direct from manufacturers. Even if it were possible, it is not pleasant to think of the effect on country living that the disappearance of country stores would have. It would mean the death of thou sands of country towns, and, as a direct result, the increasing isolation of farm dwellers.
17. Retail buying exchanges.—Perhaps the most serious and successful substitute for the jobber is found in the various forms of retail cooperative groups which try to do for themselves cooperatively what the jobber has heretofore done for the individ ual dealer. They are of various types. First is the comparatively loose organization that conducts no warehouse and does not attempt to supply its mem bers with all of their goods. Some state retail asso ciations, notably the Nebraska Federation of Retail ers, have been successful in buying cooperatively for their members. The plan is to purchase certain sta ples in carload lots, to be sold for cash to the mem bers at cost price, plus a small charge for adminis tration.
A more ambitious form of cooperative buying is typified by the Retailers' Commercial LTnion, consist ing of some hundreds of retailers in Wisconsin, Illi nois, Iowa and Minnesota. No member is accepted who is not rated high and who cannot pay cash for all purchases. Conventions are held semi-annually
in Chicago, where selected manufacturers are given a chance to display their lines. Orders are placed by the members at a fixed discount under list— a discount which is granted by the manufacturers because of the assured business of a large number of retailers and because of the assurance of" cash pay ments. Between conventions, members are per mitted to reorder by mail; they get the same dis counts on reorders that are granted to buyers at the conventions. There are many variations of this pro cedure in other similar associations, and a large num ber of the organizations are highly valued by their members and seem to render a real service not other wise rendered.
18. Cooperative wholesale establishments.—A sec ond attempted substitute for the jobber is the whole sale house, owned and patronized by an organized group of retailers, which conducts a warehouse and, to outward appearances, is not different from the independent jobber. The Retailers' Commercial Union, mentioned in the preceding paragraph, has lately established a cooperative wholesale warehouse. Another successful example of this kind of coopera tive jobbing house is the Girard Grocery Company of Philadelphia, with 470 retail 'members. It has no private brands, the members pay cash for their sup plies, and they do their own hauling from the ware house. There are many other successful organiza tions of a similar character.
19. Cooperative retail chains.—We have already learned something of the United Drug Company (Rexall stores) and the American Druggist Syndi cate with thousands of retail members scattered over the country. The former is an exclusive agency proposition; the latter started on the same basis, but now does a general jobbing business. Other similar organizations are projected in the jewelry trade as well as in other lines.
20. Strength of retail cooperation.—These vari ous substitutes for the jobber, conducted coopera tively by retailers, are in many cases successful and result in putting some goods into the retailers' stores at a lower cost than would be involved in purchas ing thru independent jobbers. Where the organiza tions are efficiently managed, there are many un doubted savings which accrue to the benefit of the metribers.