CHAPTER V 
DE LUXE GOODS FOR DE LUXE CUSTOMERS 
The profit in being recognized as style headquarters for the com- 
munity. The Model Stock Plan’s provision for attaining this recog- 
nition by profitable de luxe departments. Combining the advantages of 
a small de luxe specialty shop and a large store. Full-line buyers can- 
not afford the time for single-piece buying. The ensemble effect. How 
de luxe customers help guide full-line buying. Can de luxe goods be sold 
in large organizations? Exemption from store rules and full-line rules. 
Separate de luxe buyers free from supervision by full-line executives. 
When full lines and de luxe lines clash. How to get a specialty shop 
owner to head our de luxe department. The double-name label. De 
luxe floors. Advertising de luxe departments. The Model Stock 
Plan gives us store unity. 
Stores that make efficient use of the Model Stock Plan 
can become style headquarters of their communities. People 
in general like to wear the same styles, have the same house- 
hold furniture, and buy even the ordinary staple merchandise 
at the same stores as the wealthier, better known, “society- 
leader” type of people. Every experienced merchant accepts 
this truth. But if his business depends for its profits on 
selling goods to the great mass of population, he recognizes 
the very real difficulties that stand in the way of his getting 
the de luxe trade which likes to have articles that are 
distinctive. 
A great obstacle to selling the very top quality items in 
mass-selling stores is the customer’s fear that an article 
bought here will become too commonly in use. So the 
wealthiest customers ordinarily buy at the smaller, more 
exclusive, very expensive shops that are recognized as style 
headquarters of the community, even in lines where style 
does not enter importantly. Probably any merchant doing 
a good-sized general business would be glad to handle all of 
the city’s de luxe trade without direct profit for the sake of 
the reputation that comes with having this trade. 
AR