The Dealer's Interest in Factory Built Versus Carpenter Built Woodwork

By Jack Dionne

The other day I went into the place of business of a lumber dealer-a live, enthusiastic building merchant-and there saw a wonderful'display of "built-in" things which that merchant loses no opportunity of displaying to his customers, and which he tells he has profited much by displaying and selling.

He has derived several kinds of profit. He has brought money profits to his own pocket by promoting the installation of these attractive building improvements. He has derived satisfaction by knowing that he has furnished his customer a much better article than he would have if he had simply sold him some lumber and let a carpenter build the stuff on the job; and he has the satisfaction of knowing that his customers have actually secured BETTER furniture for LESS money, and made-their buildings more attractive and more valuable.

We have written much in these columns about the wisdom of lumber dealers stocking, displaying, and selling factory-made woodwork rather than simply ielling lumbei for such work. We have dilated largely on the riatter of frames. We have said that the- cirpenter-on-the-job frames cannot possibly give the satisfaction to anyone dir-ectly concernid in buii-dings, that the improved, standardized, factory macle produits give, they- simply can't. We have stated the reaions man/ times, ana tniy- are ap- parently unanswerable. The cusiomer gets a better made, better built, better looking, standardiZed product ready built and ready-to stick inlhe building. Hi gets quality and service, and gets them for less moirey.

And the same facts hold, but are even more pertinently true with regard to more difficult things like built-in furniture and equipment for the inside of the home.

You can go bn a house or apartment job almost any day in almost any town and see the.carpenters.-on the- job aciually sawing, ind cutting, and fitting, and nailing-things like kiichen cabinets, kitchen built-ins, built-in bookcases, built-in things for the bathroom, etc., and it means- just one thing, which is, that the fellow who gave the building advice was not onto his job, and was not giving the customer the best advice, either for himself or for the customer.

Take the built-ins for the ordinary kitchen. The lumber dealer will deliberately sell his customer two hundred feet of lumber to build those things with.It takes a carpenter four or five days to build the built-ins_that go into ihe averaqe modern kitchen. When he gets through there is no more comparison between the furniture he has built and the furnituie for the same purpose that you can buy from a good factory that specializes in such things, than there is between the finest job of automobile painting done by an expert paint plant, and a home-made job done .by the- owner out ln the garage. There is at least that much difference.

The customer has a far inferior article, and it will cost at least as much as though the dealer sold him the best factory-built built-ins. So he has the worst of it.

And the dealer has only his profit on two hundred feet of lumber, and may have had to shade his price to sell that, whereas, if he carried a fine line of built-ins he (Continued on Page 48.)

WHEN WE SAY "SERUIGE ro mE SMALLTYARD"

WE MEAN SOMETHING REAL J:.

In fact we are the eenuine "service DeDartment" for the small dealer. Carrying in stock as we do ever-ything for the building trade, and having these -great stock-s always ready for prompt moving by car or truch we make it possible for the small dealer to give wonderfirl service- to his trade, and yet keep down his investment, his insurance, and his overhead.