Accountancy and business management .. . enced to a greatextent by the first impression received by the prospective that impression is favorable, if he is greeted by an orderly, wellarranged store, if his comfort and convenience have been considered,the customer will return and give to the store at least a part of his,patronage. The old-fashioned general store, in which all sorts of merchandisewas sold, offered little to commend in respect to orderly a rule, the goods were jumbled together in a confused mass with nothought of segregating them in departments. Yet this
Accountancy and business management .. . enced to a greatextent by the first impression received by the prospective that impression is favorable, if he is greeted by an orderly, wellarranged store, if his comfort and convenience have been considered,the customer will return and give to the store at least a part of his,patronage. The old-fashioned general store, in which all sorts of merchandisewas sold, offered little to commend in respect to orderly a rule, the goods were jumbled together in a confused mass with nothought of segregating them in departments. Yet this country store,found in every hamlet, was the forerunner of the department store oftoday. The advent of the department store was a case of adapting themerchandising methods of the country village to the needs of the miscellaneous stock of merchandise, greater in size but similar incharacter to the country store stock, was gathered in one big store andsubdivided into departments. To compete with one-line stores, 57 IS ORGANIZATION. 58 ORGANIZATION 49 stocks must be equal in volume, which meant that the departmentstore must carry as large a stock of clothing or of shoes as the exclusiveclothing and shoe stores. The stocks must be as complete and aswell displayed; each department must be a fully stocked store, pre-pared to meet the usual demands of a store of that character. The department store of today is a model of systematic arrange-ment. Not only are the goods grouped in departments, but the de-partments are logically grouped and located to suit the convenienceof the customers. If one wishes to buy house furnishings, hardware,or dishes, he will probably find them in adjoining departments. But the departmental idea is by no means confined to the recog-nized department store; it is a feature of every well regulated storedealing in exclusive lines. Stocks of shoes, hardware, clothing, andfurnishings are all divided and the classes segregated by departments. The department
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectaccounting, bookyear1
