" ins.
‘ iFOUR 1 “3T3 ’.' ' "- '-
\
, BILLIONS IN V'DBYGOODS.’ .
IBW~YORK IS THE PRIMARY DIs'rniBuTJ
035' LNG POINT FOR DOMESTIC AND
, FOREIGN PRODUCTS.
...“. »
~:_l"
lam: ESTABLISHED Aim WIDELY KNOWN cox-
‘ - Vt
aussrozv HOUSES AND JOBBERS WHOSE NAMES 1“
: ARE ‘chowzv THROUGHOUT Tim UNITED‘ _
arsmnAcNITUnE 001;" THE AN— ‘
. " Noll-I. SALES IN COTTON, WOOL-
LEN AND’SI'IK BABRICS—é '.
mPOItTATIONS ‘_CO".\'—
‘ mammal; LO—
' ' ’ can Finns. ”
New-York _is.,the brain and sinew of the dry-
goods trade of. the country, the centre toward
which all of the threads of the. great induStrial
net converge and the force by means of which
the mills are kept in motion. Compilerss‘of sta-
tistics will tell you that the gross sum of the
city’s trade is nearly $50,000,000,000 a year, a
statement which is apt to set the average man
thinking and which few will be able to really
appreciate. When it is remembered, however,
that the aggregate trade‘of forty-seven other.
cities of the country is less‘ ‘than half that of
New-York alone the layman may be able to
gather some idea of the vast proportions of
New-York's. trade. New-York, in fact, as the
distributor of what is. produced in America and
ofrw'hat is brought here frdm other lands repre-
sents two. integers, while each of theother trade
centres, including Chicago, Philadelphia, Bos-
‘ ton. Baltimore, St. Louis, Cincinnati, San Fran-
ciSco and thirty-nine other ,cities having a popu-
lation of, more than twenty thousandeach, is
a. fraction of one integer. In considering the ex-
tent of New-York’s’trade, however. it is worth
remembering that it is inter—related with every.
part of the cpuntry and with the exchanges and
‘manufactures of all the other 'sub-centres,‘ so
an estimate of New-York’s trade alone would
involve the taking of a part from the whole.
0f goods to, be sent abroad, or of those intended
for a market in other parts of this country.“
three—fourths must be distributed through the
medium of. this city. ‘ * ‘ . "
‘An illustrationof this is at once apparent in,
the drygoodsv‘trade. At least four-fifths of (the
.- prints, silks, woollens, linens and fancy fabrics
made or imported into the United States are
sold in-Ncw-York. Here is the primary market
for textiles of all kinds. Comparativcly little of
the textile product is sold by the manufacturer
to the buyer directly. The goods reach the
wholesale buyer and are transmitted to the
public only after passing first through the great
New-York houses, which- control the products
got many mills and handle in enormous quanti-
' ties those Staples which ”the Nation requires.
FAR-REACHIN G INFLUENCES.
These great N ew-York houses are the primary
lources of supply, and goods that are not baught
here‘ direct are uSually obtained from persons
who. have first enrolled themselves as customers
on the books of the large mercantile concerns.
80 after all it is practically a case of buying
from, New-York. no matter in what city the
bill is placed. 7*
It has been claimed justly that the financial
aid afforded by the many large commission-
houses (”of this city is indispensable to the con-
tinuance and pro'sperity— of fully 50 per cent of
the mill productive forces of the country.
.The number of manufacturing concerns with
surplus capital sufficient to enable them to bear
the cost of .their products between the time
they leave the mills and the time they are paid
for by the purchaser is comparatively small.
pThe great majority require some agency_to
carry them over such an interval even during
the best of times. In years of depression they
are absolutely dependent upon it, and it is In
New-York that such an agency is found.
_ The importance of such a market, therefore,
It is impossible to overestimate, and if to this
isadded the stockholding interests of this City,
the fact is revealed that the merchants of New-
.‘York are paramount in the disposition of all
classes of'merchandise. Then, too, the mer-
chants here always have an incentive to realize
against their advances. In consequence buyers
are frequently afforded opportunties such as no
other city affords.
There are some textiles that are sold almost
entirely by New—York houses to the exclusion
of other cities or direct business by the mills.
Pfobably not more than 1 per cent of the print-
ed cotton fabrics used in this country reach the
consumer without having been put on the New-
York market first. In dress goods of the ging-
ham sort a similar state of affairs exists.
FIRMS DOING AN ENORMOUS BUSINESS.
Single commission houses of New-York make
annual sales amounting to $20,000,000. One
such house controls 50 per cent of the weaving
'of cotton goods in the State of Maine and im-
portant mills in Massachusetts. ' To supply this
h6use 800,000 'of the 14,000,000” spindles of- the
country are kept in operation. Another firm
finances mills having 16,000 looms and 500,000
Spindles, where all kinds of cotton g‘pods are
made.
Much the same thing may be said of the wool-
len industry. In that, however, the advances
are probably greater, for the making of wool is
frequently undertaken by small concerns and
small capitalists, and there is much need of an ,
agent wealthy enough to carry stocksjn the
course of distribution.
In every branch of the woollen industry New-
:York capital is largely represented, and it is
here that the burden between the time of dis-
tribution and the payment of accounts is borne.
Fall River and Bristol County, Mass, with
mills capitalized at $40,000,000, send their prod—
‘ not of cotton, in value twice that sum, to be
disposed of here. ‘New-York is the primary
.Kansas City, St.
and -_Milwauk'ee,iwhile St. ‘Louis, Chicago and
’Cincmnati reach‘out fox-trade far .South and
the 'big" houses.
market also for the product of Providence and
,
‘mw :-. .: . ‘
the Blackstone Valley, with 1,264,000 spindles
The forty-four miles between- Providence , and
Worcester, one continuous hive of industry, con- ,
tribute’their share to the drygoods trade of the‘
city, and as it this were not 4enough the cot-
ton mills of New-:E'ngla‘nd and the South add
their share to the whole. ._ . - . . . . a:
' Philadelphia. 1133,3400 of the 4,800 ingrain
carpet looms of the United States, and turns out
nearly»‘200,000 yards Ofningrain carpetevery
day,‘but Philadelphia'sends her carpets to News
York_to.~find.a..market.~- ' -. ..
,_ New-York sells fourteen—fifteenths of the silk
used in'tliis country, the domestic product alone
in :thatrline'being“estimated ‘at $100,000,000 in
value. .Tlie‘ product of- Paterson, N. J., the
Ilyons of America, comes to New-York, and the
silk mills of Phillipsburg, Easion, ‘Allentown,
hiauch Chunk, -Wilkesbarre. Reading and Har-
risburgalso ,send.us theirgross output.
. ' Themaking of thread is itself an industry Of
nearly $30,000,000. - '
. The cotton, linen and silk thread factories of
this country give employment to 35,000 work-
ers, and the yearly product is more than. $30,-
000,000, five—sixths of which is marketed by the
wholesalers in New-York.
. CENTRE OF THE NATION.
If one attempted to go into all of the many
lines which are represented in the vast dry-
goods trade of New-York—shans, lace goods,
curtains, underwear, gloves, hats, caps, etc.—
the figures wouldbe startling. . In a general
way, however, it may truthfully be said that in
the first importance, and calls for a capital of
.these, as in /other lines, two-thirds or more of
the gross product of the country is sold here,
and that buyers elsewhere in America are in
reality buying at second hand. .
_ Fromv New~York to St. Paul, to Galveston, to
Spokane If‘alls, is a long distance—‘—1,500 miles,
1,800 miles, 2,500 'miles. For 'merchants 'to
come to New-York means long journeys, de-
tachment from business, days and weeks of
hotel bills-in the? highest~priced places in the
United States. In every important city are
wholesalers who are contending for the .trade
of their tributaryterritory, and some of these
wholesalers search for buyers all Over America.
Retailers of the Slope' west of the Rockies are
canvassed, by Portland and San Francisco.
The eastern slope is covered by the salesmen of
Denver and Omaha, the ~middle distance by
Paul, Minneapolis, Detroit
farto the West.
2 Yet the great jobbing and specialty houses of
New—York sell as much drygoods, twice as
much, as the. Jobbers of all these‘ cities and all
other jobbers. in the-United States combined.
Some of 'tlie'goods are sold twice or three times
at wholesale, but New—York sells them first. And.
this, as hasbeen'indicated, is because New-
~Y_ork is the great depot-and central distributing
point of American textile interests. The New-
Yorkqobbers are in closest contact with the
sources of supply, and because of that they
have opportunities that are in part denied to
the Wholesalers in other cities. The reason
buyers make expensive trips from everywhere
in the United States to New-York is because it
pays them to come. They can buy more cheap-
ly here, or, if they stay at home, more cheaply
of the travelling agents of the N ew~York houses.
First ch01ce, nearncss to the source of sup-
ply, means often the chance to, buy. at less
than their value the stocks of manufacturers.Or
importers who want to turn them at once into
cash; Every such manufacturer “knows that he
can go to any one 01’ a dozen houses and get a
check for $10,000,'$50,000 or $100,000. If he is
in instant need of money, if he is overstocked
if the season is backward, if he thinks that
styles Will change .and his stock depreciate the
manufacturer seeks, a cash buyer .. in one of
. He Wants to make a big turn.
Cash_m New-York means cash. Elsewhere
caIsth iis glomkten lto thirty days. .-
_ s e now edge of a. tremendou
that makes the New-York merchant as b73112?
stronger and quicker buyer than his competitor:
I—IeOmay not possess more nerve than his com-
petitor, but he knows that with energy and
hustling he can dispose of his goods quickly and
that if it becomes necessary to turn over his
purchases there are always many buyers ready
to relieve him of his stock. If the buyers are
not in the city at the moment, his travelling
isalttilsman Erin 1retaach them somehow, for where
s ere a .am e so small that it doe
the New-York drummer? S not know
Within a small radius there is a population of
ten million people, and if these do not suffice he
has the whole continent to draw from. The
Western market, dependent on New—York for
its supplies, cannot possibly compete with it.
The New-York merchant trades on narrow mar-
gins, because such a policy gives an immediate
outlet to enormous quantities of goods that
would not otherwise be moved. ‘
ALL KINDS .OF GOODS.
rl:he trade of New-York is confined alone by
the limits of the continent. Wholesalers in other
cities must depend largely upon a limited terri-
tory, and can buy only what the tastes of their
patrons demand. New-York can buy anything
that any section of the country can use, for all
sections buy here. It is for this reason that New-
York jobbers command the sources of produc-
tion and market the products of a thousand
mills in bulk. .
In addition to its great houses for the sale of
general lines, New-York has its specialties by
the thousand. One Of these great special houses,
the largest in New-York, a dealer in rugs and
Oriental novelties, carries $2,000,000 in stock, .as
many as twenty thousand cases of full packages
at a time. This house has agents all over the
world, and is without a rival in London, Paris
or Vienna.
These specialties have to do with the dry-
goods manufactures of New—York. This is the
most important manufacturing city in America,
a fact that is not often considered in thinking of
the commerce of the great city. Philadelphia. is
thought of as a city of artisans, Pittsburg as
the chief worker in iron, Chicago as the manu-
facturer of food products. Who ever thinks of
New-York as a manufacturing city?
New-York has no great iron industry, no
great woollen and cotton factories, no immense
packing-houses, but its annual manufactures
are_valued according to the census at $777,000,-
" This is $113,000,000 more than Chicago's
metropozwozz ,,
" ‘1 INDUSTRIAL ’ EDITIONS-fl. ' ' 1* .
annual . manufactures, $200,000.000 more than-
Philadelphia's, and three times asmuch as Bos-
ton’s or St. Louis’s. , , - ' . ’
7 There are probably two thousand firms in the
city who produce or distributedrygoods special-
tIeS,n,ovelties, fancy goods and articles de Paris.
~ To compare the. importing commission dry
goods interestwith thatof any other city is not'
possible, becaus'e'no other city, has any to speak
of. New-York ..is the channel through which
foreign goods ,flowinto the United States. . In
none of the cities.,_of the world can houses simi-
lar to New-York’s commission importing houses
be found exceptuin Buenos Ayres, 'Rio Janeiro,
Hong Kong and Tokio, where a few houses have
a limitedfield of action. . ‘ . . . . ’
In'Europe the'English' and Continental man-
ufacturers seek their home, trade direct. To do
so in this country'would result in an added ‘ex-_
pensethat would make the goods un‘saiable in
cOmpetition with domestic-made goodsor pro-
hibitive to the. consumer. To reach the market
without, direct canvassing, the important manu-
facturers have establiShed agencies in_ New-
York. ' The concentration of these agencies in
individual hands has built up the great import-
ing commission houses. '— ," . ~
HOW‘ BUSINESS IS DONE.
These houses buy no goods. They represent
the manufacturers, and to all intents, so far as
the buyers are concerned, are the manufactur-
ers.‘ In 'dealing, With. them buyers deal with
first hands. These houses, though they do not
buy goods, make large advances- on consignment,
and require large capital. They~ guarantee the,
manufacturers ’, against bad debts." D‘omestic__
manufacturers have placed business in the
handset the importing houses to the extentof
$80,000,000 ayear. . M ., . . - N
The total value of the drygoods trade, _im-
ported and domestic, of New-York is estimated
at something like 51.500.000.000. ' _' , <
“The Dry Goods Chronicle” has compiled the
following interesting "table, ShOWing that out of’
a total importation of drygoodsinto the United.
States duringvth’e fiscal year of 1897, amounting.
in value 'tO‘$148,444,322-,‘ $123,162,758'worth was
entered'at the Port 'of New—York. This enor-
mous. proportion reveals in the, clearest manner
the dependence which the -merchants,_ of the
country place upon the New-York importers for
their supply of foreignlmade‘goods. ' ‘
STATISTICS on THE TRADE;
>_,Impor_tati_ons of principal items of drygoods.
during 1897: ' '
At all ' , » At '
United State! Port of
' , ~ rts. New—York.
Cotton cloths. . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . 4. $4,677,679 $3;730.000
Cotton clothing ..... . . . . . .'. 2.627, 1,796,940
Cotton knit goods. . . . 5.593.703 3.439943
Cotton laces.-. . . . . . . 12,573,207 11,105,072
Cotton thread. .. . . . '. .. . ‘ 47,388 496,31
All othermanufactures of cotton. 8,307,164 6,621,385
.Fans of all kinds ..... . ......... 387,555 . ‘ 340,064
Feathers and birds. .......... 712,610 623,081
Feathers, flowers, etc., for mil— ’
linery ........ ' ................ 2,138,215 1,761,734
Buttons ........................ . 950,061 84:.“
Yarns and heads of flax, etc. . . . 517,617 433,187
All other manufactures of flax. '
etc. . . .3 .................... 20,153,903 15,931,519
Furs, and manufactures of. . . . . 3,076,125 ,2, 690,152
Materials for hats and bonnets
of straw. .' .......... . . . . ..... . 1,990,735 1,921,096
Manufactures of jet. . ......... . 979,283 871,353
Kid gloves ............... . . . . . . 6,486,813 6,337,187
Straw matting ..... . .......... . 3,922,003 2,262,934
Musical instruments ........... . 1,147,928 737,159
Pencils .......... ' ..... . ....... . 146,076 128,513
Perfumeries ............... . . .'. 698.095 633.896
Silk clothing .................. . 2,285,042 1,813,065
.Silk dress and piece goods. . . . ..- 7,576,001 7,187.
Silk laces and embroidery ...... 2 157,927 1,725,038
Silk ribbons ................... . 63.9 931,372
All other manufactures of silk.. 12,216,1% 11,033,677
Toys ............ ' ........ . . .. . . . 3, 5,057 , 50,174
Carpets of wool ............... . 782.955 431.936
=Wool clothing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984.687 596.531
.Wool cloths .......... . ......... . 17,007,270 14.740.607
Wool dress goods .'., . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 16,787,241 15,558,925
Wool knit goods .......... . . . ... 2.5313058 1,983,740
Wool shawls. ............ . ..... . ~ 464,835 261,062
Wool yarns ....... . ............ . 956,543 736,057
All other manufactures of wool. 2.699.227 2,186,108
Totals. .. . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . $148,444,322 $123,162,758
There are in New-York. offirst—class houses
importing silks, ribbons, velvets and dress goods,
75; of linens, etc., 65; of Rum: goods, 35; of kid
gloves, 16; of millinery, 50; of fancy goods, 25.
It is safe to say that the number of houses in
New-York engaged in the importation of various
kinds of drygoods is not less than five hundred,
with an aggregate capital of $25,000,000. In ad-
dition to its importance as a. distributing centre,
this city is a manufacturer of drygoods on a
large scale.
MAKERS 0F CLOTHING.
A comparison of the statistics of the men's
clothing manufacturing industry of New—York
and Brooklyn in 1890‘ with those of other im-
portant manufacturing centres illustrates the
prominence of the metropolis in this line.
MEN’S CLOTHING. ‘
Value of
No. of No. of
factories. employee. product
New—York and Brooklyn. .497- 31,445 6,266,406
Chicago .......... . . .186 15.616 32,517,226
Philadelphia . 4.300 23,264,135
Boston ....... 6, 478 19, 6'40, 779
Cincinnati . . . . . . 4.532 - 17,951,525
Rochester ..... 92 3.123 9,133,562
A similar comparison of the women's clothing
plants is interesting:
WOMEN’S CLOTHING.
New—York and Brooklyn. . . . .473 20,036 340,718,933
Chicago : . . . . . . . ............ 71 .673 6,422,431
Philadelphia ...........-n.. 74 2,456 3,335,746
Boston . . ... ...... ......-.. 35 1,073 1,506,212
Cincinnati . ..... . . . . . . . . . . 20 1,648 2,285,598
The tendency nowadays is to concentrate cer-
tain lines of business in certain localities, and
the fact is particularly evident in the drygoods
trade. Domestic commission houses are the
rule on Thomas, Worth and Leonard sts.;
Franklin and White sts. are largely occupied
by the linen importers, _Walker and Canal sts.
by garment manufacturers.
BUSINESS IN SILK.
Greene—st. is lined with representatives of the.
silk industry, and many houses of, a. similar
nature are found in the cross streets adjoining.
Here abo are many, important concerns engaged
in the manufacture of cloaks, suits and waists.
The fur trade has a. liking for Mercer-st, and
”the muslin underwear manufacturers have prac—
tically monopolized Wooster-st. and the parallel
portion of West Broadway, 'once known as
.manufactures for the fiscal year of 189
South Fifth-ave. There: seems ,to be a tendency
now, however, on the part of these houses, to
move. .to Broadway, and several large" concerns
have already announcedtheir- intention of doing '
so. . . . . ,
This change is in line with "a movement which
has been’going on for' some time. The era of ‘
the modern'sky-scraper‘ (if—twelve stories and “
upward began, so far as the, drygoods trade is
concerned, in 1892, and the uptown movement,
which had begun—to be apparent at that time. '
was checked. ’ .
The wholesale drygoods trade finds its eit-'
,treme limits at-presen’t betweenThomas-st. and
Twelfth-st. and, Broadway. .This gives a stretch
of. twenty-two city blocks, or a little over one
mile, for the length of the district. Fire insur-
ance ‘nien regard the wholesale drygoods dis-
trict of New—York as representing a far greater »
value thannany ,similar area in the United
States.- ' .
In' conclusion, a word about the export trade,
in which New-York alsostands ahead of any
.other pOrt in theUnited States. The following
are’the values 01 the total shipments of cOtton
taken; from-the—Governi‘nent reports: '
Exports of manufactured cottons:
New—ch'ol‘t. San Francisco. Bostén.
Goths, colored. .. 2.. $1,315,513 ~
62.303
Cloths. ' uncolored. . .. . 9:228:715 51.5"
Wearing apparel. . . . .- .843 110,303 13.52?
All other manufactures ' 568.1” 676.068 379.579
Total: . . . . . . . . . . . . $12,326,231 $2,064,793 $882M
——————o——-—— ‘
[DRYGRO’OVDS‘ JOBBERS.
'nursas snort In; PARTS "Or THE COUNTRY
smock To Tim ananr' Hammer or-
. .- . . NEWTYORK cum—mimous , or
fiOLnAn‘s’5wonTn or Goons " I '
' IIANDnED "lamina. ' ,
2 The same,_reasons practically which attract a
woman to shop, in a store where 'assortments are
larger and better ; than in, others,— where the
newest goodsare to be' seen,.,and where slio.T
knows she Will have-the benefit ’of thelowest
prices possible—them sa’me'reasons'enter into i
the 'cOnsiderations of the. merchants themselves '
whenflthey go to buy. their goods.
It is obvious 'that- inro‘rder, to meet the de- ‘ '
mands of theircustomers they inust'allow those
demands to- shape their course and judgment
when they themselves are in the market. It in
only natural, therefore, that'New-York, the cen-
tre and converging pointOfAmerica’s commer-
cial-greatness; should be likewise the centre of
the individual trade corollaries which enter into
‘the'whoi'e. ' - -
ATTRACTIONS OF THE METROPOLIS.
The same advantages which attract the retail
buyer to the splendid establishments which line
Broadway, Sixth-ave, Twenty-third-st. and
Fourteenth—st. are in evidence in the great
wholesale and jobbing section downtown. For
this reason the buyer of drygoods from North,
South, East and West gravitates naturally
toward New-York, the market for the largest
share of all the drygoods sold in the United
States. It is in this city, too, that the manu-
facturers from all parts of this country and 0!
Europe make their first bid for favor. The for-
eign manufacturers are all represented here and
here they show their first samples. The great
jobbing interests in .New-York have the best
opportunities for buying and selling. ‘ Themanu—
facturer who-seeks ‘a quick outlet for. large quan-
titles of goods looks naturally'to New-.York.
knowing that it opens up the way for his prod-
uct to enter every section of the country. He
knows that if his line is handled through the-
New-York jobbers it will go to every city, every
hamlet, town and village of this broad and pop-
ulous country, for the New-York jobbers cater
to all trade in all sections, and those merchants
who do not come to the market for their goods
are reached by the omnipresent and enterpris-
ing commercial travellers, a small army of whom
are sent out every season by the drygoods job-
bers of this city.
A WIDE CHOICE.
The buyer of drygoods who visits New-York
has before him. the opportunity for inspection
of multitudinous lines. The number of firms
who are ready to supply his needs is large, and.
the opportunities for special “jobs” and bar-
gains is one that the merchants ,of the‘country
are not without due appreciation Of. Not only
has the merchant an Opportunity to buy from
many jobbers handling general lines, but there
is an even greater number who have a spe-
cialty, and the merchant has an excellent
chance to vary his purchases to meet the de-
mands of his customers at home. - .
The smallest merchant as well as the largest
can find in the
New-York just what he wants, 'and the con-
stant stream of buyers is an indication of the
appreciation which the- industry, enterprise and
energy of the jobber evoke from all parts of
the countrY.
WITHOUT A RIVAL.
* .New-York is undoubtedly the greatest pri-
mary~market in this country for. drygoods, and
it is to the hustling capacities of the jobbers-
that this superiority is largely due. The fac-
tories and mills of Fall River, New-Bedford,
PaterSOn 'and Wilmington, Augusta and Co‘-
hoes, pour their fabrics through this channel.
The great mills of France and Germany add
their quota to that of every other producing
centre, and a large share of the output comes
here to be distributed. ,
In short, the drygoods jobbing trade of New-
York is one of its most stable and representa-
tive industries, and is easily keeping pace with
the general growth andivdevelopment of our
commerce. Some idea of the extent of busi-
ness transacted in New-York may be gathered
from the fact that nearly fifty commission-
houses here, representing the combined capital
of more than $40,000,000, as representatives of
the cotton mills of the country, do a business
mounting in value to $160,000.00
7.11.3
drygoods jobbing houses of.
r
{4:-
Norwalk Chronicler