CHAPTER XVIII
THE GREAT SALE
I would like to be able to say that there were big sales on the first day of the automatic sale. All the goods on those four sales' counters had been reduced one cent in ten—ten-cent articles to nine cents, and so on—but, on the first day, we took in only $36.00 from those counters!
I found that the invoice cost of all the goods which I had put on in the sale was $1,364.00. If I could only get that amount in cash out of them, I would be more than satisfied, for I would have turned into money a lot of stock which was old, damaged or such slow sellers as not to be worth keeping. With the money I could buy goods that would sell quickly and thus increase my rate of turn-over.
But only $36.00 worth sold the first day! And the sale of other goods had been unusually slow, also. In fact, it was the worst day I had had since I bought the store.
Not very promising for the beginning of a sale, was it? But Betty, bless her heart, said, "Wait until Monday or Tuesday and you'll find things will go along all right. The prices are not yet reduced enough to make people eager to buy."
Although the goods on the bargain counters had been reduced 20 per cent., only $47.00 worth went the next day!
Larsen shook his head and said, "It may come out all right." He was a regular Job's comforter!
That night, I said to Betty, "Perhaps it would be wise to call the sale off, and put some of the goods back into stock again."
She replied: "Whatever you do, don't call the sale off! If there are any lines that are really good, you might quietly put some of them back, but don't call the sale off! It would hurt you too much. By the way," she added, "I wonder what Stigler's window is covered up for to-day?"