New Mail Order Competition Says "Merchandise or Quit"

By Jack Dionne

"Ir1 twelve months time the building materials department of our business in California will be as highly organized as it is in Chicago".

Above is the statement made recently in Los Angeles by an executive of one of the great mail order houses that is organizing its forces for the complete invasion of California -and of many other states in the union.

Does that mean anything to YOU, Mr. Lumber Dealer?

If it doesn't, then you ought to go to Chicago and visit the building materials department of this catalogue house, and see the perfectly marvelous manner in which they display and merchandise homes and other buildings and building improvements in THAT territory.

Of course, they don't sell "building materials". Not as is, at any rate. They sell them in the form of buildings and building things. The meril order houses realize that men don't buy boards because they want boards. They buy them because they want SHELTER, or some other FUNCTION of building materials when translated into terms of things that humans need.

But the way this particular mail order house sells "building materials" in Chicago is ong of the most marvelous feats of merchandising in this country today.

I spoke of these folks a short time ago when discussing the new lorms of competition that the lumber dealer is going to have to meet.

If I were a lumber dealer in California today, and had the positive assurance that in a year's time I would have competition at my front door as we are threatened with, do you know what I'd do?

I'd either quit, or I'd go to merchandising. And, since I don't believe in quitting, the merchandising choice would be mine.

What would I do? I'd s'tart doing the things for my trade that these mail order folks will be doing a year from now. I'd just beat them to it. I'd do a lot of things.

First, f'd modernize my place of business if it needed it, and most places do. The mail order man is going to display. and sell buildings from a building store, where he will SHOW them just what they get for their money. I'd do that for them. In fact; I'd have done it long ago, and not waited to be driven to it in self defense.

But, better late than never. I'd fix up my office so that it would look like the headquarters of a building specialist and a building authority, I'd make it a place where folks going by could look in and see interesting displays of building things. I would attract their attention and awaken their interest in that way. I would fi:r up my office so that I could fittingly entertain and talk building to the women as well as the contractors of the town.

I would put into that office things that would interest people who would like to modernize their dwellings. You can't do that with boards. You've got to show them what boards will build.

I'd show them beautiful home plans and pictures. I'd show them wonderful doors, and trim, and windows. I'd show them built-ins for the closet, for the bath, for the kitchen, for the living room, for every nook and corner of the house. I'd show them things that they could just picture in their minds eye as being in THEIR home.

There are worlds of such things. But you can't sell them successfully from an old fashioned lumber ofEce catalogue, nor to the people who ordinarily drop into lumber offices. You've got to change your position to that of MERCHANT, arld go to merchandising.

Show a woman a spice closet to hang in front of her kitchen sink, or her kitchen table, excellently arranged for holding spices but with an attractive small plate glass mirror in the front door, and Boy ! You've sold something. Show her the innumerable other things that are being offered YOU every day, and the first thing you knpw you'll be merchandising.

Get in touch with your trade. In whatever manner seems best see that your trade finds out that there are building ideas for sale at your lumber yard. Every one you sell, will sell others for you. That isn't so with boards, but it's so with lovely building THINGS.

These mail order folks are going to display and visualize everything from the complete home down to the built-in ironing board.

The retail yard man who sits and waits to see what his co/ntractor friend is going to bring in, won't stand much chance with the guy that sells tailor-made homes, and tailored improvements of bewitching character for every spot in the old home. That soft of lumberman is the very guy that has made the mail order man rich. He's the guy that makes the mail order man consider his business a cinch. It's because the world is filled with his sort of dealers that one of these mail order firm's stock has gone up several hundred percent in value since they anno,unced their nerr nation-wide plan.

Get the idea?

If the average merchant really merchandised, these Hellbent-mail-order-salesmen wouldn't exist.

And if the building merchants of California would get out and get busy, modernizing their offices, installing exhibits and equipment, getting after their trade in aq interesting way, and really merchandising their materials after the manner these mail order folks are going to use, this mail order threat would be a prosperity maker for them.