Mail-order men think the two-year boom in retail sales is about over. Said Sears, Roebuck President Thomas J. Carney last week: "We do not expect so large a volume of sales next year." Montgomery Ward told stockholders it had set up a $2,000,000 reserve against "price declines."
The mail-order experts deserved a respectful ear. In the 1930s they outwitted, outsold and outearned most U.S. merchants. While Sears, Roebuck and Montgomery Ward boosted combined sales from 1930's $600,000,000 to 1940's $1,219,000,000, department-store volume slumped 9%. While mail-order profits jumped sky-high many a department...
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