THE MODEL STOCK PLAN
without its principles, he has failed to attain its full profit
possibilities.
In its entirety the method leads to having the right goods, at
the right prices, in the right quantities, at the right time. Essen-
tially it is a process of planning a consistently attractive,
profitable stock. This process leads us into every activity
of the business. It exerts a constant pressure for getting the
customer better values. Consequently, we are forced to
strive always in that direction, enlisting the cooperation of
manufacturers and others from whom we get merchandise.
The method supplies both retailer and manufacturer with
a specific guide to progress. The retailer, who has the
best chance of all to get intimate, first-hand knowledge of
the wants of customers, works under this plan in a way that
the manufacturer understands, by which he can anticipate
his wants. He can render a real service. This is, of course,
what happened conspicuously with Woolworth’s—building
a whole stock to two prices so low that they are practically
one, giving customers values never before known for a nickel
or a dime, and making a stupendous total profit in the
DIOCESS.
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Other retailers have no free choice about adopting some
such scientific method as the Model Stock Plan. It is com-
pulsory. If you believe this is overstatement, let us look
for a moment at what is happening. The chain stores are
not alone picking the best and most salable and, therefore,
the most profitable lines of independent stores, but also the
big profits of the chains are inducing more people to create
still more chains, which in turn are picking more of the
profitable lines of merchandise. As the chains encroach
on more and more lines of the independent store and thus on
its total sales, the independent store’s overhead increases
on the diminished number of sales. The average independent
store is increasing its volume of sales—a little. It is not
increasing at the rate that was formerly considered satis-
factory. The chains are increasing their sales volumes at
a far faster rate, and the more the chains succeed the more
opportunity they have to succeed and overcome other
