CHAPTER VII
“Ignorance in the housewife causes dishonest prices in the grocery.”—H. C. OF L. PROVERB NO. 7.
Mrs. Larry and Claire really meant to be on their way to Dorlon’s by nine o’clock, but there were various delays. Lisbeth, coquetting in her bath, lured them for ten minutes. Mrs. Larry recalled that she must telephone her dressmaker. Claire remembered an unacknowledged dinner invitation and stopped to dash off a note. It was ten o’clock when their adventure in thrift landed them at Dorlon’s high-class grocery store.
Mr. Benton, the suave manager of the store, recognizing Mrs. Larry as a customer in good standing, looked a trifle anxious as he rose at his desk to receive them. What employee had been remiss, he wondered? Or had the cashier made a mistake? For truly the pathway of a store manager is strewn with complaints!
Mrs. Larry flung him one of her prettiest smiles and plunged into the subject of their call.
“I don’t suppose it’s good business to tell your customers how to spend less money, but that is exactly what I have come for,” she explained. “I have just wakened to the realization that while I am head of the purchasing department in our home, I know very little about food values. And I want to know more about the goods I buy in your store—how I can buy to best advantage. Would you mind giving me some pointers?”
Mr. Benton was plainly relieved.
“Indeed, I’ll be very glad to give you all the information I can. If more women studied how to buy, we would have less complaints about overcharges and high prices. But I am afraid I can’t give you much time this morning. Our busy hour is at hand. If you had come in between eight and nine, I could have taken you over the store and shown you how the wheels go round. In ten minutes our rush will set in, and last until one o’clock. Practically all of our customers crowd their marketing into those hours.”
“How odd!” said Claire.
“I don’t think it’s odd,” said Mrs. Larry. “I suppose every woman does just what we did this morning—stops to tie loose ends in the home, before starting to market.”