36

THE MODEL STOCK PLAN

of the basement store (with the exception of the first 12
selling days) when some goods did not fall under the rule of
automatic reduction. Clerks must every day go through
every piece of merchandise that could possibly be affected.
Needless service was eliminated. No elevator service is
provided. Goods may be returned only within 48 hours; the
limitation does not apply on defective merchandise. In 1911
free delivery was done away with; customers pay a minimum
charge of 10 cents to have merchandise delivered. Charge
accounts are also eliminated; basement sales are for cash.
With all these methods for saving on the cost of doing
business, a customer in the basement discovers that she is
pushed around in a crowd; to a considerable extent she has to
wait on herself; there are no special comforts or services;
and no favors of any kind. But she gets better merchandise
cheaper as a result of these economies. She saves money.
That is the reason people come. And they do come in great
crowds. As many as 76,000 persons have entered the basement
 in one day. The basement has sold over g,000,000
pieces of goods in a single year.
By now it must have been made plain that the Filene basement
 store is not, like some bargain basements, merely a place
for low-grade merchandise or old lots that cannot be disposed
of anywhere else in the store. It is a store that sells allgrades
of merchandise from the highest priced to the lowest priced.
The sole requisite is that the goods be salable, reliable as
to quality, and a bargain at the price. The basement has
sold as many as zor women’s fur coats between $49 and
$199 apiece in a single day. That is a good many for a
basement store where the selling methods are not stylish,
where the customers have to pay cash and something extra
if they want delivery service.
By the very nature of the business, it takes whatever lots
it can get, provided they are of reliable quality, whether or
not they are complete in sizes, colors, and styles. Often
this in itself is a sufficient reason for low prices. One woman
may be buying a cloth coat for more than $200 at one rack
and another may be purchasing one for $5 at the very next