Volume 1

Practical grocer : a manual and guide for the grocer, the provision merchant and allied trades / by W.H. Simmonds ; with contributions by specialists, trade experts and members of the trades ; illustrated by a series of separately-printed plates.

  • Simmonds, W. H.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Practical grocer : a manual and guide for the grocer, the provision merchant and allied trades / by W.H. Simmonds ; with contributions by specialists, trade experts and members of the trades ; illustrated by a series of separately-printed plates. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    sary experience must be acquired in some other way. In what wav? From a sheaf of different opinions we may ] i a • Suggestions select a few examples. “ A smart up-to-date man on Learning ^ i 'li*!* 11 i the Trsdc# must travel as much as possible in his early days and see the trade under its varying conditions. Especially must he become thoroughly acquainted with the nature of the goods he handles. Therefore, the best training a man can have is a short term under indentures with a good retailer, and then several years’ experience with a wholesaler, and with more than one if possible. At a wholesaler’s a young fellow would see every variety of a particular class of goods and become thoroughly familiar with everything on the market.” An American commentator ob- serves: “Undoubtedly the best school for a boy with An American ambition is to work behind the counter and to have °pmion' a chance to learn the art of buying. He should know how to sweep the store, arrange displays, keep a bank account, regulate credits, look after a stable; in short, have practical experience in every branch of the business. If he wishes to become a thorough master of his trade, he should work and utilize spare hours in acquiring knowledge, and ‘never look at the clock’.” At a set debate on the question of training employees of the Co-operative Societies the advice was given that “employees should study the elements of commercial law, acquaint themselves with the opera- tion of the various Acts governing industry, and the sale and manufacture of foods and other goods, and otherwise gain a know- ledge of those branches of education which (apart from expert knowledge of daily duties) would be found, if not absolutely essential, at any rate advisable to be known so soon as a higher position was obtained. . . . Committees should see that in every position requiring special ability there was someone being trained as a competent second able at any time to take the place of his chief.” Finally we have a prominent London grocer, A London Mr. A. G. Grantham, warning young men against taking Grocer- service with firms which specialize too much, “for”, said he, “after serving four or five years with such firms, they would only have lost the experience gained in a previous apprenticeship, would know nothing of the enormous variety of articles an ordinary grocer has to handle, and would know as much about prices as the man in the moon ”.