SELF-SERVING IN RETAILING FOOD PRODUCTS. 35 
cashiers, 2 checkers, 1 man in the stock room acting as receiving clerk 
and stock man, 1 head clerk who bought all the fruits and vegetables 
and looked after the merchandise display, etc., 1 manager, and 1 
office girl. 
HANDLING PERISHABLE FARM PRODUCTS. 
There has been a great deal of discussion as to the possibility of 
handling perishable farm products under the self-service plan. Such 
products as butter, eggs, and cheese present little difficulty as to 
handling, but meats and certain fruits and vegetables are somewhat 
difficult to handle under self-service, in fact so much so that numerous 
self-serve stores handle them in a separate department under the 
service plan. The objections to handling them under self-service are 
that the customers, in selecting their purchases, pick over the goods, 
selecting only the best and leaving a considerable quantity of mer- 
chandise which has to be reduced in price in order to move it, and 
that the customers damage a considerable quantity in selecting their 
purchases. 
It is practically necessary that a store handle the more perishable 
products, especially fruits and vegetables. A very few stores do not 
handle them, but they are not usually successful. Grocers often say 
that a good display of fresh fruits and vegetables will do more than 
almost anything else to insure a good trade and that it stimulates 
trade more than a special sale of staples, even though a better value 
is given in the sale of the staples. 
Fruits and vegetables are handled in numerous ways under self- 
service, but only a few of these methods have been successful. Be- 
cause of the usual methods of handling fruits and vegetables which 
are not carefully worked out, prices on those articles have been 
relatively higher than other foodstuffs. The public is always at- 
tracted by a good display and reasonable prices on these commodities, 
and the dealer handling them properly should be better able to meet 
competition on other lines. 
Of the problems in connection with handling fruits and vegetables 
under self-service, some are peculiar to that mode of merchandizing, 
while others are involved in the handling of fresh fruits and vege- 
tables under any conditions. 
BUYING AND GRADING. 
Certain fruits and vegetables are more suitable for handling under 
self-service than others. In general, the products of this class that 
can be handled most successfully are those that are not highly perish- 
able and easily bruised, and which are, at the same time, of consider- 
able value per unit. Citrus fruits may be taken as representing this 
group. Such products as potatoes, on the other hand, though not 
