"THE SHOP WHICH COMES TO YOUR DOOR."
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A Well-equipped Vehicle for a Travelling Grocer.
HE shop-on-wheels has wrought
many changes in the lives of inhabitants in rural areas, and has removed many of the inconveniences with which they at one time had to contend. With these people habit dies hard, and they do a thing in a certain way because it has been done that way for many years, and not because it is the most efficient and economical method. However, they have taken very kindly to the incursion of the motor shop-on-wheels, realizing that it spares them the necessity for making long and often tedious, journeys to the nearest market town at irregular intervals (although it shatters a time-honoured custom), and that the periodical visits• of the motor vehicle fitted out as a travelling shop enable them to secure supplies Of domestic necessities much more regularly than before.
Traders working from a fairly populous centre around which a number of straggling villages and hamlets is located have found that by careful arrangement they are able, by the use of the motor shop-on-wheels, to visit each dis_trict once or twice a week, and thus give maximum service to the inhabitants and secure a good return for their enterprise. So much ground may have to he covered in order to tap the various districts that dead mileage should he cut down to the minimum, if the service to the householder by the shop on wheels is to be made to pay.
Attention must also be given to the class of goods carried, for the transport of large stocks of commodities in but little demand either increases the overall working cost of the machine or results in space being occupied which might be turned to better account. For this reason it is essential that the arrangement of the fittings in the body should be properly considered Different trades will call for bodies of somewhat different design, but. perhaps the requirements of the average peregrinating grocer can best be met by the type of body which the Economy Manufacturing Co., Ltd. of Lowestoft, have just bud and fitted on is Ford ton truck chassis to the order of Mr, J. Taylor, a grocer who serves the districts in and around Gainsborough. The. body is built, on well-proportioned lines, and its construction is such that a wide range of goods can be displayed. As will be seen, two large plate-glass
windows are fitted at each side of the body, whilst the top possesses a clerestory roof. The inside of the body is fitted with shelves, racks, lockers and bins; and a polished counter extends round three of its sides.
Two wide doors at the rear enable goods to be readily loaded or unloaded, and the large windows with which these doors are provided are suitable for carrying general advertisement matter. These doors extend the full width of the clerestory roof (thus giving ample headroom and facilitating entrance to and exit from the interior), the remaining space at each side of the rear body panels being fitted with detachable blackboards, which enable the vendor to draw attention to special lines which he has to offer.
To protect goods which are liable to be damaged by the effects of the sun, and to keep the interior as cool and fresh as possible, blinds can be fitted to cover the windows. The body possesses an extremely light and airy appearance, and in its design adequate attention has been given to the important question of ventilation, a constant supply of fresh air being secured for the interior by suitable lights in the roof
Due consideration has been given to the question of the driver's comfort, and the cab is fully enclosed, although the door on the near side has a frameless window, which can be lowered during the summer months. There is a sliding light to the right of the driver, through which he can signal his intentions to oncoming traffic. Seating accommodation is provided for two persons in the cab, who are accommodated on a full-length seat upholstered in leather cloth. A back squab is also provided. Arrangements are made for carrying spare tins of petrol and oil in the cab, in order to avoid contamination with' the goods in the interior.
The inside of the body is finished in cream enamel, the outside panels being painted cobalt violet with black mouldings. With the roof finished in white and the lettering. "The Shop Which Comas to Your Door." neatly picked out in gold, the vehicle presents a most otriking appearance. It has attracted a good deal of attention since it was first put into service. and the owner anticipates that it will enable him to increase his circle of clients, and thus prove a successful business venture.