MORE PROFITS FOR PRODUCERS 103
Model Stock contains items that the retailer has previously
been unwilling to stock because he did not see how much
they would add to his profits, so the Esmond full-line assort-
ments brought to the attention of both jobber and retailer
items the sales and profit possibilities of which they had never
before been able to appreciate.
This gain was consolidated by picturing in jobbers’ mail-
order catalogue color pages, supplied by the mills, only the
patterns and colors that were in the full-line assortment.
The natural division of the Esmond line into baby blankets,
bed blankets, “fancies,” and blanket comfortables for the
foot of the bed soon developed separate full-line assortments
of each of these subdivisions; these lines are often segregated
in different departments and sometimes are bought by differ-
ent buyers in one department store. As Esmond developed
a line of all wool in addition to the cotton Jacquards, there
was also an assortment of the wool blankets.
Case 7. W. S. LiBBEY COMPANY, BLANKET
MANUFACTURERS
Many manufacturers have at one time or another sold or
consigned special assortments made up to induce the distrib-
ator to stock the line. Of course, the nearer the selection
of the special assortment to the requirements of the distrib-
utors and their customers, the more successful the effort of
the manufacturer to introduce the line. Golden Fleece
Blankets, made by W. S. Libbey Company, are distributed
to jobbers in assortments chosen for speedy selling. Domes-
tics in general have long been offered to the trade in assort-
ments which have been the means of introducing a line and
have cut selling costs by increasing the unit of sales.
Analysis of the plans already described in this chapter
clearly indicates that the selection must be good for the
distributor and his customers, whether or not it adequately
represents the manufacturer’s whole line. It ought to be
so good that it can be sold outright, so good that the dealer
will want to buy it again and again.
