John Thrifty

In the U. S., "five & ten" is now pretty much a misnomer, with Woolworth and Kresge selling items up to $1. But in England "three & six penny'' still has some semblance of accuracy. Woolworth's, which opened its first English store in 1909 and last year had 711 with profit of $32,000,000. no longer adheres to the strict price policy. But its biggest rival, the 228 Marks & Spencer stores which earned just over $8,000,000 in 1937, still does.

Last week these potent chains had a new rival, a peewee 3d. & 6d. store named John Thrifty. It was started by none other than that fabulous merchant, Harry Gordon Selfridge, who left Chicago to open London's first modern department store in 1909. Last year Self ridge's did $65,000,000 worth of business, some $20,000,000 of it in provincial divisions, at a profit of $4,000,000. One highly successful department was the 3d. & od. section. This fact, plus a growing certainty that England is slipping steadily into a business recession, are Merchant Selfridge's reasons for John Thrifty. He operated a 3d. & 6d. chain by that name for several years but abandoned it in 1930. Last week, John Thrifty returned to life in a maroon and cream shop on Oxford Street. Little Mr. Selfridge (5 ft. 5 1/2 in.) will keep an eye on it from his mahogany desk in his big store across the street.

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