Main Street

Bv Jock Dionne

1939 should be distinctively cr merchcrndising yecr. And that stctement should pcrticulcrrly cpply to the retcil lurnber decler, cnd io every m(m cctively interested in the BUII^DING industry.

Therelore nothing iE more importcmt qa we stcre hopelully lorwcrrd into the New Yecrr, thcnr seeking out thoee lertile lields where Opportunity lies in wcrit lor the ecger ones who seek her compcnionship.

Merchandising, in the sense we now crpprocch it, mecrns CREATING NEW BUSINESS. And where, in the good (we hope crnd prcry) yecr 1939, shcll the cmbitious building mcrtericl merchcrnt lind lields lor his talent thct ofler scrtislcrctory hope oI rewcrrd? Whct lields shcll he plow cnd which plow shcll he use?

I hqve vcrrious suggestions to offer. But the best one, to my wcry oI thinking, I got lrom Mr. H. M. Shcrckellord, merchcrndising counsel extrcordincry, qnd vice-president ol c grecrt building mctericrl firm,Iohns-Mcmville Scles Corporction. He wcs pointing out the Lqnds oI Opportunity thct he thought were beckoning lrom the threshold ol 1939 to the building mciericl merchant, crnd he promptly suggested "Main Street."

It hit me right between the eyes. OI courset Mcrin Streetl Not cny pcrticulcu Mcdn Street in cny pcrticulcr town, but Mcin Streets generclly, the old business districts lhtrt so rcpidly hcve grown grim, cnd grimy, crnd more or less old lcshioned, cnd delinitely uncrttrcrctive, not to mention imprccticcrl qe compcrred with the modernized plcces ol buginess. Thct's the ticketl Modemize Mcin Streetl

Get thct thought in your hecrd crnd wcrlk up cmd down YOttR Mcin Street the first chqnce you get. Look over every old business building you see with cr thoughtful, questioning eye. How could it be modernized? How SHOIILD it be improved? As you go crlong, note how dull, colorless, uncrttrcrctive, cmd LONESOME most oI the old stores cnd other pl<rces oI business look. And then note thcrt new scndwich shop over on the corner,' thcrt brightJooking ice creqnr den; those shops oI vcrrious chqrtrcter, here cndthere, thcrt crre new, qnd modern, crnd big-windowed, crnd shiny. See how they drcw the crowds. And think whcrt Main Street would be like iI all the others lollowed thct sme lashion crs lcr crs prcrcticcl.

,When you tclk to c mcrn crbout moderniz':ng his Home, you cre suggesting something whose returns crre chiefly in tenns oI humcrn eatislcction-humcn sentiment. But when you lcrlk to cn obsolete shop owner on the scrnre subiect, you cre tclking crbout qn investnent lo bring people into his store, that will plcry on the ccrsh register q tune ol entrcncing lilt. And moreover, the business owner ccrn usucrlly allord or crrcnge to mqke the improvements, once he is sold on the ide<r.

I think Mcrin Street holds out to the building mctericl merchcrnt qnd building thinker ol 1939, one oI his very finest opportunities. At lirst glcnce il seems something of cr long iump lor the retcil lumber decrler to go out moderni'i.g Mcrin Street. Something entirely new. Suret But the wcy I reqd the ccrds, something entirely new-mcny things in fcct-ig whct the building merchcrnl sorely needs. New thoughts, new idecs, new work, new opportunity, new territory.

True, he will hcve to equip himsel{ especiclly lor thct purpose iI he wishes to modernize his Main Street. But why not? The more I think ol it, the bigger the opportunity looks. No one has been shooting ct Main Street crs c proapective building mctericl conaumer oI mqrvelous worth. It's time someone did. Why not ihe live, hustling, thinking retail lumber salesmcrn? The mqn who nrodernizes Main Street won't need crny other business lor cr long, long time, qnd there should be cr lot better prolit in it thcn in selling trro by fours crt so much q thouscrnd.

And think whqt it would do lor the townl

PHIIJIPPINE