In earlier crises, many difficulties similar to these have proved merely temporary, The profitability of retailing was almost completely restored towards the end of the last war, In present circumstances, however, there are a number of factors which may tend to work the other way. The first is undoubtedly the enlarged character of.the distributive structure, Secondly, evacuation of children and families from large towns is a new feature of warfare, A one stroke it takes away from the town retailer and reduces the purchasing power of that section of the family which remains behind, The threat of air raids greatly diminishes the importance of the urban "shopping centre," which was growing in popularity right up to the outbreak of the present war, In the drapery and clothing trades, in view of the absence of the usual wide choice and attractive displays, the tendency Faust inevitably be for women to spend less on dress, And, in almost all. trades, even without any credit inflation, prices are bound to rise to some extent on account of increased costs, Already all holders of commercial stocks are compulsorily required to insure against war risk at a rate which is a crippling burden on many of them, A.R, P. costs impose an additional burden, The rise in prices must further limit the consumer's purchasing power.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.