Consumer Buying Habits in a Small Town Located between two Large Cities

Abstract

THIS STUDY was made to help ascertain what determines trends in outof-town buying habits of consumers in a town located about midway between two large cities of about the same size.' Laurel, Maryland, a town of about three thousand population2 was ideal for such a study because it is located almost exactly midway between Washington and Baltimore and is on the main highway connecting these two cities.3 Both of these cities are also reached by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which maintains regular service; and by the Greyhound bus line, which operates on a frequent schedule.4 Laurel was settled early in the eighteenth century. For a time it was an industrial town with cotton mills and other industries; but by 1911 , these industries had been abandoned. Since there are now no local industries, most of the resi, dents work either in Washington or Baltimore or at nearby points such as Fort Meade, a large army camp about