The fashionable retail stores of New York lie chiefly along Broadway,
between the St. Nicholas Hotel and Thirty-fourth street. A few are to be
found in the cross streets leading from the great thoroughfare, and some
are in the Sixth avenue, but Broadway almost monopolizes the fashionable
retail trade of the city. All the large stores are conducted on the same
general plan, the main object of which is to secure the greatest
convenience and comfort for the purchaser, and the greatest dispatch and
promptness on the part of the employes. The leading stores of the city
have an established reputation with the citizens. They furnish a better
class of goods than can be found elsewhere, and are the most reasonable
in their prices. Furthermore, the purchaser may rely upon the assurances
of the salesman concerning the goods. The salesmen in such houses are
not allowed to represent anything as better than it really is. This
certainty is worth a great deal to the purchaser, who is often incapable
of judging intelligently of his purchase. The writer can assert, from
actual experience, that for the same amount of money one can buy at the
first-class stores a better article than is offered in the so-called
"cheap stores."
[Picture: A FEMALE SHOPLIFTER.]
Upon entering a first-class dry-goods store in New York, a stranger is
impressed with the order and system which prevail throughout the whole
establishment. The heavy plate glass door is opened for him by a small
boy in entering and departing. If the weather be stormy and the visitor
has a wet umbrella, he may leave it in charge of the aforesaid boy, who
gives him a check for it. He can reclaim it at any time by presenting
this check. As he enters he is met at the door by a well-dressed
gentleman of easy address, who politely inquires what he wishes to
purchase. Upon stating his business, he is promptly shown to the
department in which the desired articles are kept, and the eye of the
conductor is never removed from him until he has attracted the attention
of the clerk from whom he makes his purchase. All this is done, however,
without allowing him to see that he is watched. This espionage is
necessary to guard against robbery. The city merchants are greatly
annoyed, and are often subjected to heavy loss, by professional
shoplifters, who throng their stores. The shoplifters do not constitute
the only thieves, however. Women of respectable position, led on by
their mad passion for dress, have been detected in taking small but
costly articles, such as laces, handkerchiefs, etc., from some of the
principal houses. Such matters have usually been "hushed up" through the
influence of the friends of the offender. The opportunities for theft
are very great in the city stores. Hundreds of small articles, many of
them of considerable value, lie within easy reach of the customers, and
all the employes are obliged to exert the greatest watchfulness. Private
detectives are employed by the principal houses, and as soon as a
professional shoplifter enters, he or she is warned off the premises by
the detective, whose experience enables him to recognize such persons at
a glance. A refusal to profit by this warning is followed by a summary
arrest.
The salesmen are not allowed to receive the pay for their sales. They
take the purchaser's money, make a memorandum in duplicate of the sale,
and hand both the papers and the money to a small boy who takes it to the
cashier. If any change is due the purchaser, the boy brings it back.
The articles are also remeasured by the clerks who do them up in parcels,
to see if the quantity is correct. The purchase is then delivered to the
buyer, or sent to his residence. Thus the house is furnished with a
check on all dishonest salesmen, and at the same time acquires accurate
knowledge of their labors in their respective departments.
The small boys referred to are called "cash boys," and are now a
necessity in a well regulated establishment. Good, steady cash boys are
almost always in demand. Intelligence commands a premium in this
department, and a bright, well recommended lad will generally be taken on
trial. He starts out with a salary of $3 per week. If he shows
capacity, he is promoted as rapidly as possible. The highest salary paid
to a cash boy is $8 per week, but one who earns this amount does not stay
long in this position. He is soon made a salesman, and may then go as
high in the house as his abilities will carry him. These boys generally
have a bright and lively appearance. Besides acting as cash boys, they
are sometimes sent on errands, they attend the doors, and do sundry other
useful acts. They are strictly watched, and any improper conduct is
punished with an instantaneous dismissal. They generally belong to
respectable families, and live at home with their parents. Many of them
attend the night schools after business hours, and thus prepare for the
great life struggle which is before them. Such boys are apt to do well
in the world. Many, however, after being released from the stores,
imitate the ways of the clerks and salesmen. They affect a fastness
which is painful to see in boys so young. They sport an abundance of
flashy jewelry, patronize the cheap places of amusement, and are seen in
the low concert saloons, and other vile dens of the city. It is not
difficult to predict the future of these boys.
The principal retail dry goods stores of New York are those of A. T.
Stewart & Co., Lord & Taylor, Arnold, Constable & Co., and James McCreery
& Co.
The house of A. T. Stewart & Co. is the best known to persons visiting
the city. Indeed there are very few Americans who have not heard of and
longed to visit "Stewart's." It is, besides, the largest and most
complete establishment of its kind in the world. It occupies the entire
block bounded by Broadway, Fourth avenue, Ninth and Tenth streets. The
principal front is on Broadway, and the public entrances are on that
street and on the Fourth avenue. The Ninth street entrances are reserved
exclusively for the employes of the house. Many persons speak of the
edifice as a "marble palace," but this is incorrect. It is constructed
of iron, in the style of arcade upon arcade, and its fronts are so
thickly studded with windows that they may be said to consist almost
entirely of glass. It is five stories in height above the street, and
above the fifth story there is an interior attic not visible from the
sidewalk. Below the street there is a basement and a sub-cellar, so that
the monster building is really eight stories in height. There is no
attempt at outward display, the fine effect of the edifice being due to
its vast size and its symmetry. The interior is as simple. The floors
are uncarpeted, the shelves are plain, as are the counters and the
customers' seats. The centre of the building is occupied by a large
rotunda extending from the ground floor to the roof. All the upper
floors are open around this rotunda. Two flights of massive stairs lead
to the upper floors, and there are three handsome elevators for the use
of customers who do not care to make the journey on foot. Three other
elevators on the Ninth street side are used for carrying goods. Each of
the floors covers an area of about two acres, so that the whole
establishment, including the cellar, occupies sixteen acres of space.
The cellar contains coal bins with a capacity of 500 tons. Close by are
eight Harrison boilers of fifty horse power each, used for operating the
steam engines and warming the building with steam. There are in all ten
steam engines located in this immense cellar. These are used for running
the elevators, for working seven steam pumps, for feeding the boilers,
and for forcing water up to the top floor, which is used as a laundry.
In a certain part of the cellar is located the electrical battery, by
means of which the gas jets in the building are lighted. Here are also
rooms for the storage of goods.
The basement is occupied by the Carpet-making and Parcel departments. It
is the largest room in the world, and is unbroken save by the light
pillars which support the floors above. The Carpet-making department is
interesting. The house deals largely in carpets, and one is surprised at
the smallness of the force employed down here. The carpets purchased are
cut, and the pieces matched as they lie on the floor by women. Then they
are placed on a wide table, forty feet long, and are sewn together by a
machine worked by steam. This machine moves along the edge of the table,
and the man operating it rides on it. His only care is to hold the parts
to be sewn perfectly even, and the machine sews a seam of forty feet in
from three to five minutes.
In the centre of the basement floor is a space about thirty feet square,
enclosed by counters. This is the Parcel department. All purchases to
be sent to the buyer pass through this department, and these make up
about ninety per cent. of the day's business. The purchases are sent
here by the salesmen with a ticket affixed to each, stating the quantity
and quality of the article bought, the amount paid, and the address of
the buyer. The goods are then remeasured, and if an error has been made
either in favor of or against the house, it is rectified. The goods are
then made up in secure parcels, each of which is plainly marked with the
address of the purchaser. These parcels are then turned over to the
drivers of the wagons used by the house for delivering purchases. The
drivers are furnished with bills for the amounts to be collected on the
parcels, and they are held to a rigid accountability for the delivery of
every parcel entrusted to them, and the collection of all moneys due on
them.
The ground floor is the principal salesroom. It is a simple, but elegant
apartment, and its chief ornaments are the goods for sale, which are
displayed in the most attractive and tasteful manner. The room is 300 by
200 feet in size. It contains 100 counters, with an aggregate length of
5000 feet. Behind these counters are low shelves on which the goods are
kept. In the centre is the immense rotunda, and at various points are
the little wooden pens enclosed with lattice work used by the cashiers.
Each article for sale has its separate department, and there are thirty
ushers on duty to direct purchasers where to find the articles they seek.
The display of goods is magnificent, and includes everything used for the
clothing of ladies and children, either in the piece or ready made.
There is also a department in which ladies and children may have all
their clothing of every description made to order.
The second floor is used for the sale of ready-made clothing, suits,
upholstery, etc., and the third floor is the carpet salesroom. The other
floors are closed to visitors, and are used as workshops, laundries, etc.
The convenience of having all these things, and in such great variety,
under one roof is very great, and saves purchasers many a weary walk
through the city. The immense capital employed by Mr. Stewart, and his
great facilities of all kinds, enable him to control the markets in which
he makes his purchases and to buy on terms which render it easy for him
to undersell all his competitors. The smaller houses complain bitterly
of this, and declare that he is ruining them. In spite of its immense
trade, "Stewart's" is not the most popular place in the city with
resident purchasers. The salesmen have the reputation of being rude and
often insolent. There can be no doubt that, were specific complaints
made, Mr. Stewart would administer the necessary punishment to the
offender without delay; but as the offences complained of are chiefly a
lack of civility, few care to complain.
The throng of visitors and purchasers is immense. They have been known
to reach the enormous number of 50,000 in a single day; but the average
is 15,000. Looking down from one of the upper floors, through the
rotunda, one can witness as busy and interesting a scene as New York
affords. All kinds of people come here, from the poor woman whose scanty
garb tells too plainly the story of her poverty, to the wife of the
millionaire whose purchases amount to a small fortune, and all classes
can be suited.
The sales of the house average about $60,000 per day, and have been known
to reach $87,000. The bulk of the purchases is made between noon and
five o'clock. The average daily sales of the principal articles are as
follows: Silks $15,000; dress goods, $6000; muslins, $3000; laces, $2000;
shawls, $2500; suits, $1000; calicoes, $1500; velvets, $2000; gloves,
$1000; furs, $1000; hosiery, $600; boys' clothing, $700; Yankee notions,
$600; embroideries, $1000; carpets, $5500.
[Picture: A. T. STEWART'S RETAIL STORE.]
As may be supposed, the business of this great house requires an army of
employes. The force consists of 1 general superintendent, 19
superintendents of departments, 9 cashiers, 25 book-keepers, 30 ushers,
55 porters, 200 cash boys, 900 seamstresses, working-women, laundresses,
etc., 320 salesmen and saleswomen, and 150 salesmen and others in the
carpet department, making a total of 1709 persons. There are other
persons employed about the establishment in various capacities, and
these, with the extra help often employed, make the aggregate frequently
as much as 2200 persons. The business of the house opens at seven A.M.,
and closes at seven P.M. All the employes have thirty minutes allowed
them for dinner. One half of all are alternately dismissed at six
o'clock each evening. All the employes, when leaving, must pass through
a private door on Ninth street. On each side of this door is a detective
of great experience, whose business it is to see that none of the
employes carry away with them any of the property of the house. The
discipline of the establishment is very rigid, and is enforced by a
system of fines and other penalties.
The general management of the house is entrusted to Mr. Tellur, the
General Superintendent, but Mr. Stewart gives it his personal supervision
as well. He comes to the store every morning at ten o'clock precisely,
and consults with Mr. Tellur about the business of the previous day, and
the wants of that just opening. He goes through the entire
establishment, and personally acquaints himself with the exact condition
of the business. He knows everything connected with the retail store,
and every detail of its management receives his constant supervision, and
is conducted in accordance with his instructions. He remains here about
an hour and a half in the morning, and returns at five o'clock in the
afternoon, and spends half an hour more. The rest of his working day is
passed at his lower store.
[Picture: LORD AND TAYLOR'S DRY GOODS STORE.]
Lord & Taylor rank next to Stewart, and are a more popular firm with
residents than the latter. They occupy a magnificent iron building at
the corner of Broadway and Twentieth street. It is one of the finest and
most picturesque edifices in the city, and is filled with a stock of
goods equal in costliness and superior in taste to anything that can be
bought at Stewart's. On "opening days," or days when the merchants set
out their finest goods for the inspection of the public, Lord & Taylor
generally carry off the palm, for the handsomest and most tasteful
display. The show windows of this house are among the sights of
Broadway.
Two blocks below, on the same side of Broadway, is a row of magnificent
white marble stores. The upper end, comprising about one-third of the
entire block, is occupied by Messrs. Arnold, Constable & Co., a popular
and wealthy house. They are noted for the taste and general excellence
of their goods.
James McCreery & Co., at the corner of Broadway and Eleventh street,
occupy a part of the ground floor of the magnificent edifice of the
Methodist Book Concern. They do not make as extensive a display as their
competitors, but are well known in the city for their rich and elegant
goods. The ball and wedding dresses imported and made by this house are
among the richest ever seen in New York.