CEDAR

fo{l. Dealer ' fo[any tbanks to you and a happy IbauksgioinQ to you and yours.

Joremost in our tbougbts at tbis Ibanksgioing season are the friends wbose confdence and good will we oalue as our most important assets.

Strable Lumber C,ompany Oakland, California

The Credit Corner

By WIILIAM E. TOCKE

Williom E, locke hos tought hundreds of independently owned firms, including mony building supply concerns, how lo merchondise ond "sell" credit. A "pockoge plon thot works," Bill's progrom ofrers the independenl businessmon ihe some odvontoges usuolly confined lo choin orgonizolions where such credif supervision is o porl of monogement. For further detoils, wrife direcl to Williom

E.

34Ol Bolboo Sfreet, Son Froncisco 21, Colifornio.

Owning and operating a retail business of an1 kind in a small town can be conpared to planting grass:

Sometimes it grows of its own accord.

Sometimes it grows in the wrong places.

Sometimes it won't grow at all.

The comparison is obvious. Small town businessmen have to wrestle with conflicts in many spheres; a difiused market, skilled labor shortages. and public opinion. Small townspeople are more unwilling to accept progressive change than those who live in cities. Progress means change, and as cynical as it may sound, far too many small town businessmen-and the population in general-are opposed to progress and grorvth. Why? No one can be certain.

This is not so with a client of mine, amiahle Fred Riedle, Jr., owner manager of Builders Lumber Company in Dos Palos, California (population 2,000). Fred is one of the most progressive small town dealers I have had t,he good fortune to meet and assist. t'red stocks saleable building materials, controls inventories. met'ts public demand for merchandise and "redii. and specializes in stocking quality merr:handise backed up by good service. A minimum payroll and wage incentives get the job done.

Fred recently installed a revolving plan of credit selling that first drew opposition from the local buyers and retailers. A farming community, his trade area emlrraces many farmers already educated in the obsolete "farmer plan" who exper:t creditors to gamble along with them on the success of their crops.

Since Fred adopted thc philosophy long ago, "I would rather sell out and give up than not be paid for what I sell," his adopted plan o{ revolving credit under the Unruh Act, California Act, AB 500, Chapter 201. Statutes of 1959, earns for him extra income as compensation for a select few {armer plan accounts and delinquent local residents opposed to paying promptly and in full when due.

Fortunately, Fred is not obtrusivc in his approach to the local trade. His plan of credit management first caused much comment from the local retailers and customers, but credit sales are increasing every month, delinquency has been reduced I7c/o, and his over-all credit policy is now in keeping with good trade practice.

Housing Storts in September 1962

During September 1962, the number of privately owned housing units started (nonfarm and farm) was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of I,3I2,000 units, down J5 percent from the revised August rate of I,540,000 units, and down 5 percent {rom the September 196I rate of I,383,000 units, according to preliminary estimates of the Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce.

A part of the September declines noted above may result from the relatively small number of working days in September 1962. The housing starts series does not now include a special adjustment for working days. When sufficient experience with the new series accumulates, such an adjustment may be adopted.

Construction was begun on 117,000 privately and publicly owned housing units in September 1962, compared with 148,700 units in August and 128,200 in September 1961. The 115,600 privately owned units begun in September 1962 rvere down 21 percent from the revised total of 147,000 in August and were down 6 percent from the September 1961 total of 122,400 units.

Nonfarm housing starts totaled I14,400 units in September 1962, down 2l percent from the revised August total of 145,000 units, and down l0 percent frorn the September 196I total of 126,500 units. Private nonfarm starts of 113,000 units in September 1962 were down 21 percent from August and down 6 percent from