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Making the Most of Possibilities

One of the most successful druggists on State Street, Chicago, paying $40,000 a year rent, stated that he could not afford to have his fountain non-productive even for a portion of the day. In the winter months he did a good business in the morning and afternoon on soda, but between 11 and 2.30 his trade dropped off, and was also light during the last hours of the evening. He analyzed the situation, and concluded that the reason people were not drinking soda water during mid-day was because they were eating. He determined to keep his fountain busy throughout the whole day, and if people were eating at that hour he would give them good things to eat. He put on quite an extensive line of cold sandwiches reinforced by hot chicken, turkey and roast beef sandwiches, oyster cocktail, oyster stews and other delicacies. In serving these with hot coffee and chocolate, and bouillons, he kept as profitably busy at the fountain during the mid-day as at other times. This did not interfere with his soda business, the rush came about noon, was prepared for in advance, and all traces of lunch were removed by half-past two in the afternoon, ready for the soda drinkers. Carrying out the same policy, he put on for the evening pan cakes, oyster stews, Welsh rarebit, and other light dishes with which he catered to the after-theatre trade. A good sale on these would keep up until the small hours. There is a lesson in this well worth studying for all of us. This was in Chicago, one of the largest dispensers in the country, and we cannot all equal his volume of business or follow his methods, nor do we consider it always advisable to do so; still we can take a hint from his success and develop the hot soda business in our locality to its utmost capacity by using every effort to keep our fountain busy every month in the year, every day in the month, and every hour in the day. That spells success.