MOVING DEAD STOCK.-The dead stock problem is a serious one, owing to the dead capital it ties up. It is almost as bad to have a lot of dead stock as it is to have a lot of counterfeit money or coins with holes in them. A certain portion of dead stock can be moved, the rest should reach the dump-heap. If you cannot get something for it, then it shouldn't occupy valuable space on your shelves. The writer tried the following five ways and succeeded in releasing the cash tied up in quite a little dead stock.

DEAD STOCK SECTION.-1. A thorough inspection of the store was made and a list prepared of everything in the store that was either dead stock or a slow seller and which it was decided to close out. The clerks prepared one whole wall section with glass doors, the list was given them and they collected all the miscellaneous articles and assembled them in this one section prepared for them. Orders were then issued to sell from this wall section when possible. If anybody asked "What have you good for a cough?" the clerk chose something from the dead stock section. The same idea was carried out for pills, dyspepsia remedies, emulsions, blood tonics, etc. It often happened that demands were received for slow selling patents which, of course, were found in this special section. As fast as spaces were emptied the goods were moved together so that the section always looked well and would not arouse any suspicion. No attempt was made to sell anything that wasn't in good condition. Such articles were weeded out and carried down to the cellar. The special dead stock section is a good idea, because all the dead stock is concentrated in one spot, conveniently located, where it is constantly in mind.

EXCHANGE WITH DEALERS.-2. Where dead stock consists of a large lot of one or two articles which had been advertised over your name, or where you had enjoyed the sole agency and had sold off the first order and the second order was going slow, this plan is a good one. Write to the sole agents in other cities, offering to exchange the article for something they cannot sell, which you could. The article which is dead

with you may be very much alive with them, and they will be glad to exchange something else for it or buy it outright, in which case you can make a liberal discount.

EXCHANGE WITH AGENTS.-3. Exchanging dead stock for goods put up by regular exchange houses. In this case you are asked to accept cough cures, charcoal lozenges, talcum powders, face powders, pills, etc. These, of course, are more salable articles than the dead stock you are exchanging, but the new goods will become dead stock if you do not choose the right ones and push them persistently. It is a good idea when they come, to assemble them on one shelf, then realize that every time you sell anything from that shelf it is the same as selling an old dead stock patent medicine. The writer tried this scheme twice, came out fairly well the first time and extra well the second time.

EXCHANGE WITH MANUFACTURERS.-4. Exchanging old goods with the manufacturers direct for fresh goods. These goods must be in original unbroken packages and in good condition. Pharmaceuticals come under this head. Also if you have a lot of the $1.00 size which doesn't sell you can exchange it for the fifty cent size. Many times you buy one-sixth dozen of an elixir to supply the demand anticipated by a detail campaign among the physicians. You may sell one bottle or you may not sell any. Perhaps those two bottles stand you $2.00 or $3.00. Don't keep them, ship them back and get something that will turn into money.

EXCHANGE WITH WHOLESALERS.-5. Exchanging goods with wholesalers. This includes patents and toilet goods, soaps, talcum powders, face creams, etc. Make a list of these goods that you do not care to keep any longer, write a letter to your wholesaler, enclosing the list. He will answer, checking off the list the goods he cannot take back and asking you not to add anything to the original list sent in. He will return any goods you send him that are not in the best of condition. One advantage of marking goods with a pencil instead of your sticker or a pen and ink is when they are returned it is easy to erase the cost and price mark. Whole

salers do not like to be imposed upon too often by being asked to take back goods, but the more square you are about it and the better condition your goods are in, the more willingly they will take them back. If you bought a gross of Castoria, Hand's Remedies, or Mellin's Food, and the sales dropped off for some reason, your wholesaler will be glad to take them off your hands, because he always has a good sale on them. Of course you lose the discount gained by purchasing in gross lots as well as have to stand the express both ways, but your account is credited with so much money, which is the same as releasing the cash from your stock. Your dead capital becomes live capital.

OTHER METHODS.-Oftentimes you can exchange goods with pharmacists in your own town. If they have nothing to exchange they will gladly purchase, in which case you can afford to make them a good offer. In the trade papers you will notice that some manufacturers offer prizes for the largest sales on their goods. If you have some of their goods that don't move, watch the trade papers for the list of winners, then write these winners that you will land the goods at their store at a certain price. They have proven that they have a big sale on them and should be glad to close a bargain. You can often make special bargains among the close friends of the store to work off stationery, soiled fancy goods, leftover holiday goods, leather goods, high-priced hair brushes, etc. Special sales, bargain counters, combinations, are all good methods. Always be careful not to sell anything in dead stock that doesn't give value for value. Your customers will not thank you for unloading a lot of rubbish on them. The dump-heap is the only place for rubbish.

FREQUENT INSPECTION.-If you have no systematic plan of caring for stock, no inventory, no general house-cleaning campaigns, you will accumulate a lot of dead stock in a short time. The dozen free with a gross, the ten per cent. discount on quantity orders, the long dating or a big purchase, the big order allowed to be sent on sale and the goods never returned, all contribute to pile up a big dead stock.

Make a list every three months of the slow sellers, get them out, push them, exchange them, turn them into cash. If the wrappers are soiled, write for new ones. If you cannot get them, sell them without wrappers. On your tours of inspection you will find soap, mucilage, writing tablets, candy, post cards, salted nuts, cold tablets, etc., stowed away somewhere out of sight and out of mind. The oftener your inspection the less liability of complete loss on stowaways. Seasonable stock requires close watching.

Instruct your clerks to watch the stock exposed for sale on the tops of show-cases, counters, shelves, and brackets. It pays to watch your stock, and as soon as an article is lost have it reported. By knowing the design or arrangement of a counter display, you can locate a single missing article at a glance, and being then posted you can prevent any organized pilfering of your stock. Have your clerks post you in regard to any suspicions they may entertain. It isn't near as hard to lose part of a profit on an article as to lose the whole article, so these losses in an irregular way should be avoided as far as possible, by being wide awake and observant at all times.

To sum up this division, the lesson of hard times has shown you the need of every possible economy. That your time is worth money. Every five minutes is of great value. That money leaks out in the form of deteriorated, perishable, stolen, misplaced goods, through breakage and downweight. All these leaks are preventable to a great extent. Cash discounts should be taken and dead stock avoided. The money you make by close attention to the principles laid down in this division is just as good as the money you make in selling new goods. In the course of a year it is equivalent to selling several thousand dollars worth of goods.

DIVISION V

SYSTEM AND STORE SERVICE

CHAPTER XVI.

SYSTEM IN A PHARMACY.

If there is any one business on earth that needs system, that business is the retail pharmacy. It is estimated that a well-equipped pharmacy carries from 4000 to 6000 articles. To keep track of such a great number and to realize the importance of each, requires systematic planning. The first step in your systematic plan should be to systematize yourself, your own time and movements. Have a regular time to be at the store and a stated time to be at your meals. Always plan to be at your store during the busy hours. Plan your time while at the store. "Plan your work and work your plan" is the motto you'll see hanging near a desk in many business offices. You are to build your career. You must build it carefully and little by little. You must have a definite plan to work on. What kind of a house could you build if there was no plan made for it? The house is planned, you know what you want in it, everything is specified, the architect draws the plans, and as a rule they are not changed. You must sketch a plan for your own career. Draw a plan of it in your imagination. Have a mental picture before you always, it will encourage you to develop it.

Have a distinct aim and purpose. Have an ideal, then try to reach that ideal. You must be ambitious. You shouldn't be satisfied to just drift with the tide. If you don't inaugurate system you will simply float along on the stream like a boat without a rudder. You have to go whereever the rudderless boat takes you, as you have lost the power to steer it. System is the steering gear of your business. See that it is firmly attached so it cannot be lost. It will