London' s Lady Lorry-vendor.
Page 6
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An Agent Whose Telegraphic Address and Business Capabilities are Apparently Contradictory.
A phenomenon brought about by the war, and one which is likely to have a permanent effect on this country's internal economy, is the opening for women of so ,many varieties of employment new to the sex. Miss Marian G. Paige's active participation in the motor industry, however, cannot be traced to this cause, inasmuch as she has been intimately connected with the trade for almost 12 years. It is true that the present business, the headquarters of which is now. 199, Piccadilly, only came into. being at the beginning of May last year, but Miss Paige had, to all intents and purposes, had sole control of a similar establishment for some 18 months previous to that date.
Wide Scope.
Her interest in the commercialvehicle side of the business, though of comparatively recent origin, is nevertheless a rapidly growing one, and, from all accounts, deservedly so. Its scope includes the five-ton steam wagon as well as the threewheeled parcelcar — the heavy petrol chassis equally with the Ford van. The business in these vehicles, ds to a very considerable extent that of sale and exchange, Miss Paige befit open to purchase any suitable second-hand vehicle, and either to pay cash or to deliver in exchange new machines, the balance of the transaction in the event of exchange being decided on, being made up by cash in one direction or the other, s the case may be.
Male Assistance Necessary.
A natural inquiry is as to Miss Paige's methods of " vetting " second-hand heavy vehicles of which she may be considering the purchase. This applies, in particular, to such machines as Fodens, etc.,, as Miss Paige does not claim, of course, to have had any lengthy engineering training. Some such question occurred to us in the course of a recent interview with Miss Paige, and we obtained what perhaps might have been surmised would be the answer, that of a staff of mechanics in her employ, more than one are sufficiently trustworthy and expert to be able to do this business on her behalf.
Past Year a Good One.
Miss Paige is of opinion that the past year has been an exceptionally busy one, particularly for people dealing in the class of goods in which she specializes. She attributes this unusual activity to the shortage of horses and also to the almost unprecedented price of fodder, this being now more than double what it has been for some time. She has experienced the usual phenomenon, well known to ourselves and to commercialvehicle dealers generally, that once a man has been persuaded to utilize a mechanically-propelled vehicle for his transport, it is very, very seldom indeed that he proves desirous of returning to horses. A particularly brisk trade, she informs us, has been done during the past year in vans for laundries; this is a, feature that we had ourselves noticed, and it is interesting to have it confirmed from such a quarter.
Deferred Payments. Service.
,Miss Paige has laid herself out to meet the requirements of possible purchasers and of users on two
distinct lines. In the first place, she very quickly realized that whilst there are many people, in a small way, willing to give the motor vehicle a fair trial, quite a large percentage of these have capital so locked up that they are unable at the time to lay out the first cost of a suitable machine. She has, therefore, gone very_ carefully into the deferred payment question., and can now give accommodation of that kind in such a way as to meet the needs of almost anyone. The second point on which the lady lays great stress is that of "service," and-of caring for the user and his interests after she has sold the machine. She is very particular about this indeed, and, -as already mentioned, she keeps a staff of reliable i mechanics and s prepared at any moment to send out to the assistance of customers who may be temporarily embarrassed on account of some minor breakdown with which, in their inexperience, they are unable to cope.
Effect of the Budget.
During the last three weeks, trade, she informs us, has been rather slack—this probably owing to the expectation of Mr. Mclienna's statement, which was to be made on the evening of the day on which we were afforded this pleasant interview. However, notwithstanding this, Miss Paige is looking forward to the making-up of her balance-sheet for the first year of business with no misgivings whatever ; in fact, rather the reverse.