"Of course," I said, "it is much easier for you people to make money than it is for me, because you buy much cheaper than I can, and your expenses are so much less. You could afford to sell cheaper than I do, and still make a handsome profit." "As a matter of fact," said Roger, "you are wrong; for, while the actual operating expense of this store would be a smaller percentage than your actual operating expense, we have a heavy supervision cost. It is a fallacy to believe that the larger store can operate for less expense. It cannot. The bigger business you have, the more money you have to pay the executives to control that business, and there is such a scramble for really big men that salaries of fifteen thousand dollars and twenty thousand dollars a year are not unusual. Our general manager makes eighteen thousand dollars a year!" "Think of making eighteen thousand dollars a year! Three hundred and sixty a week! Sixty a day! Working six hours a day! Ten dollars an hour! And here I pike along on twenty-five dollars a week and work my head off ten hours a day. Then you mean to say that it really costs you more to do business than it does me?" "It surely does," he said, "but, while we get a smaller net profit on each sale, we possibly exercise more judgment in buying than you do, as we see that everything we buy is a quick seller. That off-sets the increased cost of doing business. "Another big advantage the chain store has over the single store," continued Roger, "is that we have very little unsalable stock to dispose of. For instance, I have just had a lot of brushes sent me from one of the other stores. They cannot sell them, so, rather than have them sold at a sacrifice, the brushes were sent on to us. I am doing quite a big business in paint brushes--you know we specialize on brushes of all kinds, and I really think that already we are beginning to dominate that field in Farmdale. "By the way," added Roger, "you ought to meet Pat Burke." "Pat Burke?" "Yes, he is the manager of the new Woolton store here--awfully nice fellow." "When did you know him?" I said. "Strange to say, he was assistant manager of the Hartford Woolton store when I was there, and I got to know him quite well." "I hardly like to call on him," I said. "Remember, he's a direct competitor of mine, and next door to me." "Competitor nothing," said Roger good-naturedly. "You are not competitors at all. You are selling different classes of goods, and you ought to supplement each other." That was a new thought to me. I wondered if a five-and-ten-cent store was a hindrance or a help to an adjoining hardware store? A man named Purkes ran a grocery store at the corner opposite Traglio's drug store. He was an undersized man and fussed and interfered with everybody else's business, and made a living chiefly because he hadn't much competition.