Neighborhood Retail Outlets and Family Stability

Abstract

RETAIL OUTLETS dependent upon neighborhood trade require for their intelligent operation, in these changing times, detailed data on family movements taking place in the neighborhood which they are serving. Their operation is dependent upon the character of the neighborhood upon which their profits depend. Changes in population composition must be watched and the indicated changes in operation immediately made to maintain profits and prevent losses. The neighborhood druggist in a stable section of a large community goes to church and is active in a service club, a board of trade, a lodge, and other social or business groups primarily because it is good business for him, just as it is good business for his smalltown brother to take an active part in village activities. He builds his business through personal friendships made over a period of years. His store may not have modern furnishings. The windows may not be very attractive. His merchandise may not include the very latest things sold in the larger downtown stores. His service, however, is a personal service. He is a friend and adviser to his neighbors who are his customers. His books show many charge accounts, all good as gold. He even cashes checks when the neighboring bank is closed on Saturday afternoons, Sundays, and holidays. He furnishes the medicine for the sick baby, later for the sick child, and a few years later he sells sodas and sundaes to the boys and girls who regard him as a friend of the family. Some come from a distance to do business with him because they like him personally. Such a man can do business in Shaker Heights, where people seldom move. The Cleveland Metropolitan District, for statistical purposes, has been divided into 321 census tracts' or small areas with con-