The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutThe Huron Expositor, 1971-03-25, Page 21;41 • Come in, and (see picture clarity you've never , imagined—SOund too true, its breathtaking ' Makes Success of New Style store • men ,with metallic stripes on their shoddy jackets - shop at Willie's.. So -do plenty of at least middle,class matronSithe. kind of price-conscious • young, women who buy $50 shoes but only when they're reduced at half-price. They clOn't find those at the Fleischer store but they do find the 'best-known, brand name, T-shirts, jeans, cordur- oys, snow-suits and dresses for their .children. They're all cut- rate and if they don't fit they can be returned. Willie explains that every manufacturer makes a lot of samples. Only the garments that win store-buyer acceptance are ever mass produced. I A man- ufacturer,rnay make 500 samples and actually 200, get orders. That relives hint with, 300 . samples. I take those.' Then each time he cuts an order, he cuts at least 10 per cent extra, hoping for re- orders. If those don't come let I buy those, too. I buy every- thing left over." Often those leftovers come to a heap of stock. Just about every day,• vans wheel up to the corner with racks Of misses' coats, or boxes of children's jumpsuits. "I may take 1,000 pieces of something, It's all gone in a couple of days._ A regular store' wouldn't buy all size 6 or 10;, we'll take them." Willie sells at the wholesale price, usually about half the re- tail one. So a girl's dress tag- ged $12.95 is $6.75 at his place. An $80 woman's leather coat is $40. Boy's $5 jeans are $2.75. Big stores say they need that 100 per cent markup to cover salaries; buildings, advertising, upkeep and sales, let alone profits. Willie sells at the whole- sale price and his profit comes from the discounted price he negotiates with the manufacturer. "We don't go into the market for merchandise," he says with satisfaction, "the manufacturers come to us." Those same manufacturers lay down the protocol under which he operates. We couldn't take pictures in the store for fear some major department store might recognize that Willie has the same merchandise cheaper. And Willy doesn't put price tags on anything. "Somebody might try to take it back to another store for a full-price refund, or they might ask how come it's $25 in your store and $12.75 at Willie's?" Since there aren't price tags, a Beckett-like dialogue takes place between Willie and every- one who comes up to his cash register. The customer lays down an item, Willie looks up Willie knovt, merchandise "we insist that every mandact, urer supply us with information" about what we're selling: I tell everyone- whether 'something can be machine-washed or just hand- washed," - and he knows people. "Here comes my girl friend,"- he says to just about every second. woman In the place. "No, we don't have that In size 7. It only comes In 6 and. 8." To another: "You can't put that on an'll-year-old girl. It's a teen size - with bust darts - your girl doesn't need bust darts. I won't sell it to you." To a third: "I don't care if it isn't a dark color. "The child likes the other one ' better. You should take it. She'll take better care, of it if she likes it." He works hard. Despite the long lineups formed beside the two cash register s (his wife mans the other) he'll drop every- thing to scurry to some nether reach of the store to find "a size 2 snowsuit,, please, not too expen- sive?" for a wan-looking waif of a mother in need of a coat herself. More affluent customers usually get told - with some gentle joke - where to find things for them- selves. Willie says he figures he works from 8 in the morning till 7 at night until his wife injects, a might testily, "you're never home by 7." He shrugs. He's good -,natured and hard work has been a way of life for him eirer since he left his native Germany at 24 "because Hitler didn't like my nose." His flight, begun in' September, 1933, took him from Germany through the Sudenten- land, Czechoslovakia, Huagary, Poland, Sweden, Norway,and Eng- land, before he landed in Canada In June, 1939. In Germany he'd been a cham- pagne maker - "Ribberiffop was my competition - that's all he was, a champagne hustler." In Canada, lie- worked on a Saskatchewan farm for six weeks then escaped to Winnipeg - "I worked in a cheese factory in the daytime, cleaned fish at night and Sunday cleaned chicken coops. Smiles . . . Putting the dinner on the table, the young wife proudly chirped: "This is my first roast turkey." "Marvelous," said her hubby, "and it looks a's though you've stuffed it well, too." Stuffed it?" said she. "Why? This one wasn't hollow." • • He came to. Toronto PM a jobber offered to sell bins 'NOW- of men's seeks at 50 cents a dozen. ' didn't know the city but I saw a Streetc4r, market' Woodbine so I followed it and opened up my car beside the race-- track. I• split the -bundles into six-pair lots and went mural offering them five pairs for $1;' Nobody even looked at the socks, they were too busy counting and finding sir pairs. They thought they were getting semetting-for nothing, so they bought, Ihave idea what kind of socks they viere. Neither did anyone who bought them. 'it's unbelievable how people can buy such merchandise. Some of them don't care what it is so long as it's cheap. I don't sell such stuff now. nut, if I ever go. out of this businesaoed -like to teach women how to shop for quality at bargain prices." HELP US HELP Testing soils for fertility re- quirements is the 'best economic guide tp the use of fertilizers and lime for crop proch4ion. The soil testing 'laboratory et the University- of Guelph tests about 50,000 samples for some 15,000 Ontario farmers each year. From a soil test, a farmer can find out whether the soil is de- ficient in one or more major elements and what amount of fertilizer is • required for the most economic crop production. Ontario farmers may depend on the recommendations , made through the University of Guelph and the Ontario Department of Agriculture and Food as being the best available. Soil testing is useful on farm soils,. ,hut is of much less value on gakl•den soils. In a home garden, fertilizer cost is not a factor as the gardener has only a few thousand squire feet of land. A farmer's saving through soil tests may be several hun- dreds of dollars, but a gardener's saving is at best a few pennies, and probably not worth the postage on the sample. There are gardeners who specialize in growing roses, • peOnies;:gledloil, etc, spit they may have considerable Money in- vested In ti ise plants. sell tests may be of value In such cases, but even then IN soil test can only deterinine over- fertiliZation or unbalanced con- ditions. Sponsors Rfleeting A meeting of the Egmond- vine Twilight Circle, held at the home of Miss Marjorie Papple opened with a short story followed. by prayer. The roll call ,-name something green that 'you are,, wearing" was answered by eleven - members. The guest for the evening, Mrs. Johanna Veilleux of Bruce- field, demonStrated how to' make glass-like flowers from liquid acrylic plastic. In charge of lunch wereMrs. Wanda Dietz and Mrs. Brenda McIntosh. The next meeting is to be held at the home of Mrs. Jim Papple on April 19th. Benjamin Moore Paints REGAL WALL SATIN Benjamin Moore's finest interior latex will finish. * Applies easily with brush or Reg. 11.20 , roller * Dries in one hour to matte fin- ish. * Available in1,400 decorator col- - ors that are comptetely able. /4 may! GRAVES' te In a recent story in the Globe and Mail Joyce Carter tells how Willie Fleischer of Toronto sells large quantities of clothing at rock bottom prices, A frequent visitor in Seaforth Mr. Fleischer is a son-in-law of Sam Shinen, oldest merchant on Seaforth's main street. Ills wife is the former Mildred Shinen. This is the story: Willie Fleischer saves more clothing budgets than you can shake a start at. Every business morning, his corner - the corner of King Street West and Stafford Street - has a clutch of bargain hunters just waiting to pounce the minute the doors open at nine. They're not often disap- pointed. The big, undecorated store is chock-a-block With wom- en's and" children's clothing, all at about half the price you'd pay at an ordinary shop, There are lots of discounters, but Willie's is different - he sells only first quality, brand name, made-in-Canada merchandise. "I feel as a Canadian I should buy only Canadian 'merchandise. If everyone felt as I do, the whole economy would be different. "During the milk strike I had a couple come in- and the man was wearing a (support the strike) ribbon. His wife asked if I sold Romanian corduroy pants. She said they were good pants. I told her if' I would buy milk in Romania, your husband would never get a raise." He's like that. Straight. And kida of a softy. Like every other store, Willie's has goods thit get trampled, sometimes even damaged by the mob. '"We don't sell that stuff. There are churches around here who run clothing stores for poor people. We give it to them." Lots Of -the-..'poor-toothless:"" the-prtn"ilr his invoice-andsays: "That's a blank-blank dress, $12.95 in the store, I say$6:50,.. The customer nods yes or no- YeSies go to te parcelled, nos go back into stock. There are a lot more acceptances than re- fusals. Nearly everyone has at least half-a-dozen items; some come laden with two or three of the green plastic garbage bags provided for- big-shoppers. Most pay in cash. Big bills plucked lightly from alligator wallets or yielded thoughtfully from the budgeter's paper enve- lope marked "clothing". Small bills and even change scrounged froM several cavities in the clothing of the suspiCious poor. A few tender baby bonus cheques, or even personal cheques met with only one swift look from Willie and a mild requeSt for "some identification." Te'st Farm Soils As Economic Guide IANT MOVING SALE - CONTINUES AT ANSTETT JEWELLERS LTD GALLON HYRON:ExPosilTO1t, StgAFORTH' ONT4 MAR., 2s 1271.42 WANT ADS BRING QUICK RESULTS: Dial 527-0240 Read the Advertisements It's a Profitable Pastime! Westinghouse 13.8 Cu. Ft. Frost Free 2-Door Refrigerator-Freezer LOOK ni LISTEN VALUE DAYS SPECIAL MODELS AT SPECIAL PRICES a * 124-1b.-#eezer * Adjustable shelving * Porcelain crisper * Large bottle storage on door Mfg. List 419.00 SALE The "CAPILANO" 25" COLOR TV 1-Year Free Service • Hand rubbed Deitcraft cabinet' • Exclusive Electrolok automatic fine tuning • Electrotint for locked in color balance • 6 yr. picture tube warranty plan • Hand wired chassis • Automatic degaussing • Many more dynamic features 6991" 6-Year picture tube warranty plan 30-inch nfinite heat electric range The "SARASOTA" AM-FM STEREO • Fully automatic • across top light • Plug-out element • Simmer element •, Storage drawer • Superbly detailed hand rubbed cabinet • Easy-rolling casters • 80 watts of AM-FM'$tereo performance • Garrard automatic changer • • Balanced 6 speaker saved system • Provision for cassette tape, 3600 satel- lite sound, and environment 0 LIMITED PHONE '52770680 SEAFORTH 1444414,444~1 ;#••••••