I told him the whole story, and he certainly looked grave.
"What can I do?" I asked anxiously. "I haven't the money to fight him. He is cutting into my profits very much as it is. Would you advise me to make a big display of five-and-ten-cent goods before he has a chance to open the store?"
"When is he going to get started?"
"Well, he said he was going to open by the first of the month."
I think for five minutes Barlow said nothing, but just see-sawed backward and forward on his swivel chair.
"What ratio would cheap kitchen goods bear to your total sales?" he finally asked.
"I don't know what you mean."
"I mean, suppose you sell a hundred dollars' worth of goods, how many dollars' worth of that would be in five- ten- and fifteen-cent articles?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Surely you have some idea as to whether the cheap goods are the ones that sell best in your store?"