15. More storage space required.—Larger pur chases in each line would require increased storage space. The small dealer now relies on the jobber to carry his surplus stock for him. The warehouse function -of the jobber thus works to the great ad vantage of manufacturer and retailer alike. As has already been said, the wise dealer buys often and in small quantities, and not only turns his capital many times a year, but also does business with a minimum of overhead expense. Greater warehouse charges would increase his own cost of doing business, and would be reflected either in his prices to the public or in decreased profit for himself.
16. Credit arrangements would cease.—Without the jobber there would probably be a cessation of the credit arrangement thru which the jobber furnishes many a retailer with most of the capital with which he conducts his business. The struggling merchant who shows ability can usually find some jobber to back him until be gets on his feet. In every town there are retailers who would have to close their doors tomorrow if it were not for the leniency and good-will of a jobber. The jobber often extends the retailer credit, not from mere good nature, but because it is good business to help the man who gives evidence of being able to succeed. With the 'withdrawal of the jobber and the keen desire of many competing rrinu facturers to get their money without delay and with out risk of loss, the average man desiring to go into business would be unable to command enough capital to conduct a retail store.
17. Elimination of the small dealer.—The condi tions that the retailer would have to face with the elimination of the jobber, show clearly that for the small dealer in jobbing lines the jobber is an abso lute necessity. Without the jobber a very large pro portion, possibly nincty per cent, of all retailers would have to drop out of business, and the field would be left to those who are laroe and strong enough and backed by sufficient capital to do for themselves the things which the jobber now does for them.
To be sure, there may be a middle-ground between using the jobber's services and doing without them entirely. This possible middle-ground is to be con sidered in the chapter on Substitutes for the Middle man. Whatever substitute is offered for the jobber, however, it should be understood that the serv ices performed' by him involve a certain expense, which will be the same for the substitute as for the jobber. The substitute may be called by another
name, but his function will be the jobbing function, and he will do for the retailer merely under another name, and perhaps in a modified way, some of the things now done by the jobber.
18. When the jobber is- necessary.—The reader should remember that what has been said of the serv ice rendered to the retailer by the jobber applies only to retail lines in which the jobbing function, because of the nature of the business, is essential to the small dealer. If a store can buy its entire stock of goods from a few manufacturers, the jobber's service is not important. This is the case with stores handling shoes, furniture, clothing, etc. The elimination of the jobber would not greatly handicap these stores, because in perhaps the majority of cases even the smallest of them are already purchasing direct from the manufacturer. It should also be remembered that we are not considering the advantages and dis advantages of the present system of multitudinous small stores scattered. everywhere thruout the coun try, and of the present system of independent, strict ly competitive, relatively small units of manufactur ers. It is possible that with fewer and much larger retail stores and with combinations among manufac turers for the purpose of more economical marketing, there would be less necessity for the jobber's services. Under present conditions, however—and those are the only conditions worth considering—it cannot be de nied that the jobber is often essential to the existence of the average retail store in many staple lines.
19. Jobber's service to consumer.—Finally, the job ber serves the consumer. He permits the existence of the neighborhood store, which is demanded by our modern buying methods; he is useful in creating place and time utility; he provides an economical method of marketing for many manufacturers and thereby keeps down prices; he encourages retail com petition, increases retail efficiency, tends to weed out the unfit in merchandise and to encourage the sale of goods of quality. He touches the lives of the public in such a variety of ways that, if he were to disappear from the merchandising field, we should find ourselves seriously inconvenienced; we should be under the necessity of abandoning old buying habits and forming entirely new relations with the sources of supply of many of the things that we eat and wear and use.