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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1913)
The Omaha Sunday Bee PART TWO EDITOEIAL PAGES ONE TO TWELVE PART TWO SOCIETY PAGES ONE TO 'TWELVE VOL. XLUL-NO. 4. OMAHA, SUNDAY" MOHN1NO, JULY 13, 1913, SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS W omen Who Manage Departments of Omaha Stores S) 00 1 m fMil WsA.fl ' -.-' f -- " - .... TO SBS llltMMi liT ii i"t vHHjHEjtfB9Q2J BBSs SO- yifiiHiimiBwa FN .OT only ar6 women and glrlB employed as clerks in tho department stores of Omaha, but they are employed as heads, managers and buyers for cer tain departments. It has long since been found that women can do'' bet ter in laying in stocks of goods that aro peculiarly for tho woman trado of the city than can men, and the result is that women havo been made heads of these departments. Thero are many Women heads of departments in the department 6tor'es in Omaha who have as many as eight or a dozen clerks under them,' and who do all their own buying - without; consulting any superior. ThUB twice a year tho Leads of departments make their buying trips to ewyorkand other eastern points. Usually, those vnmAn f floof rr t ti e Kit vim tw ttntt'dfMtht 4Via time, of year and when they do tfiey. aim to go to gether to' get the advantage Rf cpnipany.anti com panionship' during the stay in,tIjetAEuerieantdetrop "oils. ' Thero are women heads of departments in Omaha stores who got their first experience in the very v store in which they now head their department. There aro others that have changed about in the various stores of the city, whilo ..there are still others who woro brought here from the larger stores of Chicago, New York, Kansas .-City and St. Loilkfbr the purpose ""of managing tho depart ments hero. Some of .these imported woafen have built up splendid departments where not. even a name existed in the store before. ' One of the veterans in point of service is Mrs. Thohias J. Willows, head of the department of white-goods and wash goods at, the Brandois stores. (Mrs. Willows has boon in the employ "of the Bran dels people, In tho department store for twentyfive years. During the last ten year's she has been Tiead of this department. If was in'' 1889 that, she started in the storo as a salesgirl. She has been identified with the company during its great de velopment in tho city until 'she is now head of tho department of white goodsln tho now Brandels "store building. Twelve -clerks work under her in this department. Sho. habitually makes three trips , each year to Now York when she does tho buying for tho 'department. Sho has been to Europe bov-n ' eral times on trips. On Such occasions she never fails ;io visit tho large stores ?n Paris Berlin and other European cities, to get now- ideas as to what is going on in the great markets in her line of goods. Another who has had experience in ,tho depart ment stores for years is Miss Elizabeth Burmester, head of tho corset department In the Brandels stores. Miss Burmester came here from Chicago last fall to take charge of this department . In Chi cago sho was an assistant buyer for eleven years, in oneJf the large stored on State street, and for six years she was connected with Marshall Field & Company's establishments. At present she has a large force of clerks working under her. 8he makes never less than two trips a year to the eastern mar kets, in New York and Chicago, where she looks' over tho latest in her line and lays in her stock of. goods for tho coming season. Seventeen years ago MIss Mnry Spollman started hjr department store work with Hayden Brothers stores. Sho has remained with the firm from-that 'day to jthls. Sho Is at present head of thd Jewelry department, and although this is a department the .stocking of wh(ch involves a largo outlay of money, . .this little woman does all the buying and tho firm leifeu (he stocking of the department to her own ,good Judgment Perhaps few department heads -finale - mord'huylng trips to the oast- thnn sho, for she goes four times each year to New York and Chicago in the .Interest of her department. v She has six clerks working under her. ' Miss L, N. Lleser, head of the department of. muslin, underwear, infants' wear, house dresses; petticoats -and negligee at Orkln's, is one ,of tho newer department heads in Omaha having como here & year ago to tako charge of this department ,Shb is buyer and manager of the departments Her ; former experience has been in the large. and fash ionable department stores of Philadelphia and Washington. She cohrcs from tho city whore in her work, she had to deal with tho wives of sena tors and presidents, to say nothing of suiting the MX ill OflKWS ..... . j.t.,X' mm m tLmmm - m or b Hiss 2Tay tSpclImzii. HAYOSW BftoS, 1 mmmeSt m msWM whims of the wives and Infants of foreign ambus- 1' sadors; Mrs. E. T Wright, head of the corset department at- Orkln's, ig another who has ''had twenty-five 'years' experience. During all that time her expe rience has bfeen in the corset business. Her expe rience has been largely in tho large stores of New York, where she was employed for a number of years until she camo to Omaha) seren years ago. Coming to Omaha she took chargo of the corset de partment of the Bennett storo, and", when the es tablishment passed into the hands o'f Orkln Brothers a year ago she continued at the head of the depart ment. Sho is manager and buyer for the depart ment and usually goes to New York and the east twice a year to stock up. Mrs. B. Rubin, bead of the department of neg ligees and infants' department at the Brandels stores, is one of the veterans in point of service. She has been connect9dw!th department storo work for twenty-one years and is thoroughly familiar with every detail of the work that comes within the range of her department, j Twice a year sho makes her buying trips to NowjlYork. These trips sho makes in February and August 4o. lay. in tho newer stocks of goods for the seasons immediately to fol low. - She has six clorks-'in' her department Miss O. Jones, head of tho department 'of rib bons, at tho Brandels stores, has been ''hero but a year. She came here ftfom the stores of the eastern cities and has practicably made the ribbon depart ment of the store. .When she- came there was scarcely what could be called a ribbon department With her ability at selecting the classy and tasty lines of ribbon goodq, sho has built up one'ot the important departments of tho establishment, and now. has six clerks .working under her. She buys for 'the department in New York and Chicago, to which places sho goes for this purpose threo times a year. Miss Carrie H1J1, head pf the, glove department VmmMMGfiLllSJXKKXMa Mil! ZZ o she has been employed for n number of years at tho .Bran'dels stores. She came to manage tho de partment with Orklns when they took the now lo cation on- Sixteenth street Sho also makes two trips each year to New YorlJ to do her buying. .Miss Agnes O'Nell is head of tho department of crockery at the Hayden stores, Although she is somewhat modest and does not liko to talk to Strangers about her achievements Jn life, tho man agement of tho store assert that sho haB mndo good and that she is an efficient department head. Sev eral clerks are employed in the department, and MIssO'Nell looks after the management of tho de partment in & qulot and efficient manner. What she doosn'l know about pottery Isn't on record. Miss Mattle O'Malloy Is tho gonial head of the glovo department of Thompson-Boldcn's establish ment She oversees tho half dozen girls who aro clerks in her department, and does all hor, own buying. tThlssbo Is able to accomplish usually with one trip to tho big Amorican metropolis each year. Miss Isabel Rhodes is head of the department of laces., ml tolderles, nockwoar, handkerchiefs, rib bons, trimmings, etc., at the Thompson-Belden es tablishment. Before taking up this work, in Omaha bUo had an experience in tho work for eighteen at Orkln's, camerto this storo from the Brandels "years in Illinois. SInco taking tho work hero she establishment. After being with Brandels ten years. she took the hoSd of tho glove department at Or kln's whon the Ann took the new location last year. She camo to Omaha from 8t. Louis about, eleven years ago.- InSt fcouls sho had several years' ex perience In department storo work. AtOrkln'i sho has a large for.ee of clerks employed under her. and' does .all her own buying for the deportment, making two trips a year to New York for the pr.r pose. t . .. Miss Nan .Watson Is buyer and manager of the art needlework and fancy goods department of Orklns.. 8hq.pnie her6 from CJrand Rapids, Mich., some years ago. Her first experience In tho busi ness was at Grand Rapldo. Since coming to Omaha has made two trips each year to New York on buy. Ing expeditions. These trips aro made in August and February, which aro the recognized 'times for laying h the s(ocks. . . Mlsa Alice Stork, head of the department of art needlework of the Tijompson-Belden store, has been with the firm seven years. She lij buyer nud moungoi of her department, having a force of clo'rka subject' to her direction, and making her trips personally to the eastern markets for the pur pose of selecting her stocks. . Mrs. C. S. Brantner is the head of 'the muslin un derwear and Infants' wear department of Thomp soniBelden's. She does tho buying for and manag ing of the department entirely. She has been with mmmmsimweRMwp7ry Bit AN OS tS this company fourteen years Sho has thrao girls under her, In tho department Miss Frances Dlllman is buyor and manager for the corset department la tho samo store. Corsets and corsot accessories aro handled in her depart ment Sho has been with this company all tho time since eho began In the department storo work. Five clerks under her direction handlo the work of the department. She also goes on tho buying excursions to the eastern markets. Miss Jonnlo Arthur, at Thompson-Beldon's, is head of the department of notions. Sho holds the title of buyer and manager here. She employs six clerks in her department, and personally makes her trips to do her buying.' Miss Myrtle Leach is Thompson-Belden's mana ger and buyer for tho hosiery department A num ber of clerkB are employed under her. She camo hero from Iowa thirteen years ago. In too various ' cities in Iowa she gained hor experience in her lino ot work, and thirteen years ago was employed at her present location. Those establishments that havo given the women a free hand in tho buying and managing of their ' own departments havo found this a very satisfac tory method. They hold that whon a woman onco understands her business thoroughly in her de partment she Is Just as safe and conservative a buyer as a man would be In bis department, if not even more so in many cases. Especially do they maintain that forcertain departments handling especially women's and'lnfants' apparel, women as heads of the departments are unequalled. They , know what the women want and they can talk to' them as men cannot When a woman customer talks to a woman manager about the morlta or demerits of a given garment or a peculiar style, tho woman manager knows what she is talking about She does not know It from hearsay, either. She knows it from experience, for has bIio not herself worn Blmllar garments? Thus do the womon managers sift down the Information thus gained, tha kicks, knocks, praises and blames, until at the end of a season they know whether it will over pay the nouso to put in a Una pf the similar goods or not. They aro moro keenly sensitive In. feeling out the likes and dislikes of the womon ,in fitting them than, men could be. There aro other department stores organized on a slightly different basis In the city who do not give their department managers aq absolutely tree hand in solectlng and buying. The difference la system is often merely nominal. The woman man. aging the department decides on the policy of. tho department for the coming season, decides what OHKttitS far sho wants and what' sho does not .want, decides how 'much of a given fad to stock up v with, and hoy lit tle of an outgoing stylo to lay in, and, thon,. bofofe sending in tho order, (ays tho matter before the general manager for approval. This, in some stores, is-largely iform.' as tho general manager njnst nec essarily dopend largely . on . the good. Judgment of the department heads. Still, there is a possibility . that nqw and then ho may make a suggestion that will bo followed. With his general knowledge of tho condition of tho establishment, of tho stocks, carried In tho various departments, ha If? now and v then ablo to drop a suggestion that will bo valu able. Now and then bo orders the list cut down, or ho may order it enlarged.. At nor rate, he Is forced to go into conforenctrwlth the department head about the pros and cons of the department, and tb yield largely to her Judgment iu matters of select ing tho stock, Salary 1 Yes, these girls got a good salaryTher are in demand. A woman who is an efficient buyer and manager of a department of woman's apparel is In demand in tho big stores and Is a real, asset. Tho customers soon learn to know that there is someone at the head ot the department who knows Just what is what in that particular line. They learn to go to the head often for advice concerning certain garments and especially concerning the styles and tho possible transient nature of certain fads or the staying qualities of another fad. Again, many customers look to tho head oftlfe department for an opinion as to a f)t Especially is this true in the corset deportments, and to, 'a. 'largo extent in tho glove departments. A goo'd head of a corset department must be also a first class fitter, so that when sho says it is a fit, the customer must find it so on 'reaching home and giving the -article some wear. This is also true in tho negligee departments. The fitter must bo con scientious and muBt strive to find tho best possible fit for the customor, even though it takes longer to make tho sale. Tho more inherent artistic sense tho ftttor has, tho hotter satisfaction she will give in deciding when tho customer has slipped into the garment that is most becoming. Next to that Is knowledge of the otilea and good common sense, In her capacity as buyer for the department, tha head must exercise good Judgment not only with, r gsrd to what la tho stylo, the rage, the fad, or th craze. These matters sbo must decidedly keep. p. mind. But further she must keep In mind her oufe tomers and what they y&rxt. She jnust knew whether her customers as a class will demand muoh of the latest fad or craze, or whether they will fee inclined to remain on a more conservative plaice and buy moro strongly of the more standard styles.