The principal shops are noticeable for their size and the heterogeneity
of their contents. At first I used to think that this want of
specializing was a relic of the days of 'general stores,' which still
reign supreme in the country towns. But, on the contrary, the tendency is
decidedly to increase the range of retail business rather than to
specialize it. For instance, it is within the last five years that
furniture, china and fancy goods have become attributes of all the large
drapery 'establishments, and that the ironmongers have gone seriously
into the agricultural machinery, clock, china and fancy goods business.
Amongst these ironmongers there are two shops--Lassetter's at Sydney, and
McEwan's in Melbourne--which would attract attention in London; and in
Adelaide, Messrs. Steiner and Wendt's silver-ware and jewellery shops
have a style of their own which does them immense credit. But, on the
whole, Melbourne is _facile princeps_ in shops as in everything that
may be said to enter into the ladies' department. The windows' in the
fashionable part of the town are dressed anew every week, and with a
taste which reminds one of Paris. But in spite of this, the best class of
articles are difficult to get, and the few shops that keep them charge
almost ridiculous prices. One would suppose that a better class of things
would be obtainable in free-trade Sydney than in protected Melbourne, for
while freights and commissions fall equally upon the just and upon the
unjust, an _ad valorem_ tariff such as that of Victoria presses very
hard upon high-priced goods. But, as a matter of fact, the metropolitan
and fashionable character of Melbourne more than counterbalances the
tariff; and, so far as I can judge, you have as good if not a better
chance of getting an article _de luxe_ in the protectionist as in the
free-trade city. Of course the latter is the cheapest, but by no means so
much cheaper as the difference in tariff would imply, competition being
much keener in Melbourne.
In Sydney, however, there is less adulteration and palming off of
inferior for good articles. A curious instance of this came under my
notice. Shortly after a recent imposition of an extra five per cent upon
boots, I bought a pair exactly similar to some I had previously got at
the same shop. The charge was exactly the same as before; and on my
asking the shopman how it was possible for him to avoid raising his
price, he candidly told me that people were accustomed to pay a certain
price for a certain article, and that therefore he had been obliged to
order an inferior boot, made to look exactly the same. 'My customers
won't pay more, sir,' he added; 'and if I were to stick to the same
quality as before, they would go to other shops, where they could get an
inferior boot, looking just as good, for the old price.
Although there are some dozen places in Melbourne and half-a-dozen in
Sydney which are equal, if not superior, to any in Birmingham or
Manchester, the general run of colonial shops are little better than in
English towns of equal size, and their style is as English as English can
be, especially the smaller shops.
But in one respect there is a great difference. The English shopman
generally knows his business thoroughly, the colonial rarely. Supposing,
for instance, you want some article of ironmongery in an English shop,
the attendant shows you an assortment to choose from, pointing out the
special merits of each variety of the article as made by different
manufacturers, and guiding, but not presuming to dictate, your choice.
The colonial, on the contrary, begins by asking an exact description of
what you want; and then, feeling sure that he knows much more about your
requirements than you do yourself, brings you very likely something that
will 'do,' but is not exactly what you want. He does not enjoy the
trouble of laying before you a variety of things to choose from, and
except in first-class shops he does not seem to care much whether you buy
or not. The result often is, that you either are strong-minded enough not
to buy at all, or so weak-minded as to take _das erste beste_ that is
put before you. Either is unsatisfactory. So far has this custom of
knowing everything proceeded, that at a leading dressmaking establishment
in Melbourne when a friend of mine was ordering a dress, the fitter after
the lady had chosen the stuff, and pattern, said, 'Of course you'll leave
the details to me, ma'am,' the details including the length of the skirt
and all the gatherings and miscellaneous ornamentations, which make all
the difference between a pretty and a tasteless dress, and in which
individuality has a chance of showing itself. As regards civility in the
first-class establishments, there is little difference from the
obsequiousness of the old country; but what difference there is, is in
favour of the colony. In the second-rate shops there is often an
unnecessary assertion of the shopman's equality with his customer, and a
great indifference as to whether he buys or not. In the small shops where
the proprietor or his family serve you themselves, the thermometer of
civility registers a rise again, though sometimes after a rough fashion.
No mention of Australian shops is complete without an allusion to the
fruit and vegetable shops and markets, where every kind of fruit and
vegetable can be obtained at a very low price; the varying climates
obtainable within a small area enabling each fruit to remain much longer
in season than in England.