May I, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



249 



THE HARDWARE JOBBERS' COMBINATION. 



SINCE the reference, in our last issue, to a projected com- 

 bination of important hardware jobbing- houses, an offi" 

 cial statement of the details has been made public 

 through The Iron Age, of New York. It is intended to 

 form a corporation under the laws of New Jersey, with $120,- 

 000,000 capital — $40,000,000 in 6 per cent, cumulative preferred 

 stock and $80,000,000 common stock. Fifty-two houses, named 

 below, are mentioned as being identified with the movement. 

 It is purposed that the principal officers shall be : Edward C. 

 Simmons, founder and late president of the Simmons Hard- 

 ware Co., of St. Louis, president ; John Bindley, of the Bindley 

 Hardware Co., of Pittsburgh, vice president and chairman of 

 the finance committee; Wallace D.Siinmons, present president 

 of the Simmons Hardware Co., and son of E. C. Simmons, 

 chairman of the executive committee. There will be a board 

 of directors of twenty-five or more members, and an executive 

 committee of which the president and vice president will be 

 members. 



The general headquarters for buying and selling and trans- 

 portation of goods will be in St. Louis, where the larger con- 

 tracts will be placed, but the smaller buying will be done by the 

 local houses. The Eastern headquarters will be in New York 

 city, in charge of Mr. Bindley. This office will have charge of 

 the financing and auditing and insurance of the company, as 

 well as the general direction of all the houses in New England 

 and the middle states, the members of the executive commit- 

 tee resident in the East cooperating with Mr. Bindley. 



"The concerns constituting the company," says The Iron 

 ^_^,», " will continue, for the present at least, without change, 

 and so far as the public would observe busines will run on as 

 before the consolidation. The principle of home rule will be 

 recognized in connection with the local houses, who will make 

 their own selling prices, except so far as this may interfere 

 with the buying department or the expressed wishes of the 

 manufacturers, which it will be the policy of the company to 

 respect. Each house will be held responsible for the results of 

 their business, and if these are not satisfactory the house will 

 be closed up." 



The new company hopes to benefit from economies (i) in 

 purchasing on the most favorable terms, in view of the large 

 volume handled ; {2) in taking advantage of cash discounts, 

 which is not now done by all the houses in interest ; (3) in 

 creating a mutual insurance fund ; (4) in the issue of general 

 catalogues, instead of a separate catalogue for each house, as 

 in the past. It is intended to continue the present force of 

 salesmen connected with the various houses, though transfers 

 may be made to prevent salesmen from covering one another's 

 routes. An increased business is anticipated, so that a decrease 

 in the number of salesmen will not be necessary. Large stocks 

 will be carried, and each house will give special attention to 

 its own immediate territory, thus avoiding the evils of attempt- 

 ing to cover sections at a disadvantageous distance. 



While the list of houses given herewith represented the mem- 

 bership at the date of the initial announcement, negotiations 

 were in progress with other houses, with a view to forming a 

 connection with a house in every important trade center in 

 the country. It is estimated that the list given embraces about 

 two-thirds of the distributing efficiency of the hardware job- 

 bing trade in the United States. Some of the houses consti- 

 tuting.the company have been establishing relations abroad. 



and the hope is entertained that the consolidation, through a 

 house in New York, may be able to build up an important ex- 

 port trade. 



Editorially, The Iron Age does not regard the success of the 

 new movement as assured. " Kept within moderate limits, re- 

 strained to the dimensions of a great house among others its 

 peers in everything except size, it will have a fair chance at the 

 business which is to be done through the jobbing trade." But 

 the combination is in danger of becoming too big, and great 

 tact will be necessary to avoid antagonizing manufacturers, on 

 one hand, and retailers, on the other. " There is a legitimate 

 field for the hardware jobbing trade — although it is a diminish- 

 ing field when compared with the volume of the hardware busi- 

 ness as whole — and if a wise and conservative policy is pur- 

 sued, there is no reason why jobbing houses, both inside the 

 consolidation and outside, should not be successful. If, how- 

 ever, there is in their policy anything which antagonizes the 

 other departments of the trade, which are necessarily more 

 essential and more permanent, it is not difficult to foresee that 

 changes in the methods of distribution, signs of which are 

 already visible may be greatly accelerated." 



The firms named in connection with the combination are : 



Boston, yl/a«.— Baldwin, Robbins & Co. Bigelow c& Dowse Co. 

 Brown & Wales. Fitz, Dana & Co. Frye, Phipps & Co. Arthur C. 

 Harvey Co. Holder & Herrick. Waite, Ranlette & Co. 



New Haven, Conn. — C. S. Mersick & Co. 



Portland, Me — Emery-Waterhouse & Co. 



Elmira, N. V. — Barker, Rose & Clinton Co. 



Buffalo, N. K.— Weed & Co. 



Albany, N. Y. — Albany Hardware and Iron Co. 



Rochester, N. Y. — Matthews & Boucher. 



Syracuse, N. Y. — Burhans cS: Block Co. 



Philadelphia, Pa. — Supplee Hardware Co. 



Pittsburgh, Pa. — Bindley Hardware Co, 



Cleveland, Ohio. — William Bingham Co. Mcintosh- Huntington Co. 

 George Worthington Co. Lockwood-Taylor Hardware Co. J. M. & 

 L. A. Osborn Co. 



Detroit, Mich. — Standart Brothers. Freeman, Delamater & Co. 



Saginaw, Mich. — Morley Brothers. 



St. Paul, Minn.—C. W. Hackett Hardware Co. 



Minneapolis, Minn. — Janney. Semple, Hill & Co. 



Duluth, Minn. — Marshall- Wells Hardware Co. 



Indianapolis, Ind, — Van Camp Hardware and Iron Co. 



St. Louis, Mo. — Simmons Hardware Co. 



Kansas City, Mo. — Richards & Conover Hardware Co. 



Denver, Col. — George Tritch Hardware Co. 



Helena, Mont. — A M. Holter Hardware Co. 



San Francisco, Cal. — Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Co. Pacific 

 Hardware and Steel Co. 



Los Angeles, Cal. — Harper & Reynolds Co. Union Hardware and 

 Metal Co. 



Seattle, Wash. — Seattle Hardware Co. 



Nashville, Tenn. — Gray & Dudley Hardware Co. H. G. Lipscomb 

 & Co. A. M. Tenison & Co. Keith, Simmons & Co. 



New Orleans, La. — Staufler, Eshelman & Co. 



Biimingham, Ala. — Moore & Handley Hardware Co. May & Thomas 

 Hardware Co. Milner & Kettig Co. Mayberry Hardware Co. 



Atlanta, Ga. — King Hardware Co. Beck & Gregg Hardware Co. 

 Dinkins & Davidson. 



Saviinnah, Ga. — Palmer Hardware Co. 



Baltimore. Md. — Carlin & Fulton. 



The new movement is strongly criticised by not a few jobbing 

 firms whose views are presented in The Iron Age, one member 

 of the trade in western New York expressing himself as follows : 



'• The proposed jobbers' consolidation is chiefly composed of 

 (I) the parties who expect to make a nice sum in its promot- 

 ing ; (2) the parties who expect to sell out with a bonus; (3) 

 the parties who wish to sell and get out of business. That a 

 very large jobbing house can do business for a less percentage 



