Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
August,  1913.  J 
The  New  Drugstore. 
365 
impersonal  basis.  There  are  no  favorites — the  old  and  young, 
rich  and  poor,  are  treated  alike.  In  larger  stores  even  the  per- 
sonality of  the  proprietor  or  the  clerk  is  of  but  little  influence  in 
making  business — it  is  the  method  that  counts. 
Universal  in  modern  business  is  the  principle  that  the  "  nimble 
sixpence  is  better  than  the  slow  shilling."  Many  customers — vol- 
ume of  business — make  it  possible  to  buy  in  larger  quantities  and 
obtain  concessions  not  accorded  to  the  small  dealer.  The  larger 
store  can  also  increase  the  variety  of  the  merchandise  handled,  and 
the  drugstore  often  expands  into  a  department  store. 
The  cut-rate  drugstore  has  been  but  an  incidental  phase  in 
this  evolution — the  cutter  has  used  the  inequitable  prices  upon 
patent  medicines  as  a  means  toward  an  end.  As  the  department 
store  holds  out  bargains  to  attract  attention,  so  the  cutter  uses 
low  prices  on  popular  articles  to  bring  the  customer  his  way.  Low 
prices  are  only  one  factor  counting  toward  success  and  it  is  a  de- 
clining practice  in  the  largest  of  our  modern  stores.  The  cutter  is 
not  a  philanthropist — the  chain  store  must  make  profits  to  exist. 
A  manager  of  the  latter  class  is  on  record  with  the  statement  that 
if  it  costs  them  28  per  cent,  to  do  business,  the  profits  must  exceed 
this  percentage  before  any  dividends  can  accrue. 
Packages  all  ready  to  hand  over  the  counter  enable  the  mer- 
chant to  make  completed  sales  in  a  shortened  time,  and  it  is  inter- 
esting to  watch  purchasers  rush  in  and  out  of  the  drugstore  and 
witness  sales  made  as  rapidly  as  subway  tickets  are  sold  during  the 
rush  hour.   This  counts  for  volume  and  a  lessened  expense  per  sale. 
Of  vital  importance  in  modern  merchandising  is  service.  In 
former  days,  if  no  customers  were  at  hand,  the  druggist  sat  down 
and  waited  for  them.  It  was  undignified,  unethical  and  sometimes 
unnecessary  for  the  old-time  druggist  to  advertise ;  everybody  knew 
him — patrons  only  sought  him  in  times  of  distress  and  in  such 
cases  were  glad  to  seek  his  aid.  But  now  he  has  become  an  adver- 
tiser— a  trade  developer — a  pusher  for  business. 
The  development  of  advertising  in  the  drug  trade  is  an  interest- 
ing study.  Timidity  marked  its  beginning.  "  Prescriptions  care- 
fully prepared  "  was  about  as  far  as  the  druggist  would  go ;  then 
came  the  rush  of  verbosity,  exaggeration  and  generalities ;  space 
was  filled  with  statements  supposed  to  create  a  sensation,  make 
talk  and  trap  the  unwary. 
Now  the  value  of  sane,  cumulative  publicity  is  recognized ;  space 
