Chicago Dealers Cooperate in Advertising to Their Local Trade

Retail lumber dealers of Chieago have pooled their interests in a eampaign of constructive, educational advertising to the'lumber-consuming trade of that city.

They u1s running their advertisements, says Printer's Ink, in 33 newspapers in that city and vicinity.

These dealers had set out to obtain certain benefits for themselves and after obtaining them found that the consum'er of lumber shared such benefits with them. Hence their reason for advertising. They hacl news for the consumer in that they could give him more intelligent and better servrce.

Their association was formed because of a belief that there was need of standardization in quality, grad.e and measure in their produet. How this standardization was effected. and. what it means to the consumer of lumber is being told in advertising such as the following:

Lumber that you can depend upon.

Ifow often does the average man buy lumber? Ilow much can he learn to know about lumber from only his own experience ? Very seldom does a man build more than one home in a lifetime. It's plain to be seen that he has to leave a lot to the man who sells him lumber.

You can depend upon the dealers who belong to the Chicago Retail Irumber Dealers Association. They sell Standard Grade-they guarantee Quality and X'ull Measure 1,000 feet for 1,000 feet. You can identify these dealers by the trad.e-mark CRDITA on the delivery ticket and on each lot of lumber you buy.

CRI-/DA protect you. Buy from the dealer who meets the high business stand.ards which this trademark signifies.

There are ten difrerent advertisements that give messages such as that contained in the foregoing copy. Each onJof the advertisements appears once on different dates in all of the thirty-three newspapers that are being used. Since the campaign will cover a period of thirty weeks, it will take three weeks for each advertisement to run its course. tr'or example: During the first three weeks advertisement No. 1 appears; during the second. three weeks ad.vertisement No. 2 appears.

The association has adopted a trad.e-mark "CRDLA Guaranteed I-iumber. " This trade-mark is used not only in ad.vertising copy, but at every time an opportunity for use presents itself. The membership of the association are suppliecl rvith rubber stamps that bear the trade-mark. Their clelivery tickets, invoices, estimates and each piece of lumber they sell are stamped. so that this trade-mark is visible. Each member of the association is assigned a trade-mark number for the purpose of identifieation and this number appears on each member's rubber stamp.

A folder explaining the assoeiation, that is supplied to the members for their cusotmers and that is mailetl to architects, contractors, carpenters and real estate men, in Chieago and in Cook couaty by the association headquarters, supplements the newspaper campaign.

How One Dealer Boosts Hardwood Flooring Sales

California d.ealers are great sellers of hardwood flooring. 'Ways and means for boosting sales of this kind are always appreciated.

A lumber dealer in Virginia reports that he uses the following for boosting hardwood flooring sales:

Ife uses a mailing list subclivided into prospective home builders, and owners of substantial homes who might be interested in. improvements. One subdivision is those who ow:r homes that haven't hardwood floors. He has a handsome illustrated card. picturing oak flooring being placed on the floor of an old home, which he mails to each flooriug prospect. This is followed up by a second. card. on the same subject. Then by a personal call, backing up the card.

A lumber dealer in New Orleans, I:a., makes a specialty of hardwood. flooring, and to sell it he ad.vertises a flat price for a certain size room, working on the excellent theory that it is a erime to tell a prospect that oak flooring is so much a thousand feet when that price only confuses him, but to tell him that sufficient oak flooring of a certain grad.e to cover a room 16 by 16 will cost so many dollars and. cents. It invariably surprises the prospect that the room can be floored so economically, and aidg a sale.