76 THE MODEL STOCK PLAN 
we are good judges, almost flawless judges, when it comes to 
applying art and science to merchandise. 
Almost every buyer feels the same way, even though his 
whole training and his background fit him best for buying at 
the bulk levels of demand. Moreover, the requirements 
for the greatest total profits in his full-line buying job are 
so exacting that he can make much more money if he does 
not spend his time and energy in the very difficult, time- 
consuming task of buying single pieces for the de luxe depart- 
ment. It is inadvisable for an able full-line buyer to scatter 
his energies over the de luxe field also, no matter how com- 
petent he may be with de luxe goods. 
Likewise, an outstanding characteristic of a de luxe mer- 
chandising operation is that the buying and selling must, in 
far greater degree, be handled on a more intimate, personal 
basis than can be possible in even the best of mass selling 
and mass buying. The de luxe customer wants to meet that 
special man or woman “who bought the goods” and “who 
knows all about the goods and the style trends,” and in 
whose opinion and taste the customer feels she can place 
confidence. 
It is utterly impossible for the de luxe buyer to follow the 
Model Stock Plan preferred policy of often sending some one 
else to market to place the actual orders. And any full-line 
buyer who tries to handle his own lines, supervise the selling 
in the full lines, and then, on top of all this, operate a de 
luxe department, buy for it, and spend a great proportion 
of his time in dealing with individual customers will have his 
hands so full that he cannot possibly handle any of his jobs 
most profitably. 
The Model Stock Plan makes it easy for us to draw a dis- 
tinct boundary between the three full lines and the de luxe 
goods above these full lines. And the buyer for the highest- 
priced full line must be free to obtain to sell at his price level, 
to the greatest extent that he can, any goods that might 
normally fall in the de luxe classifications. 
It may happen that at times the highest-priced full line 
might have the same goods as the de luxe department. In