prime essential is
good coffee, freshly roasted and ground. After that comes intelligent
and unremitting sales-promotion work.

[Illustration: SMALL GERMAN ROASTERS

On the left is a hand roaster for wood or coal fuel; on the right is a
gas machine.]

The many ingenious trade-building plans worked out successfully by
grocers in all parts of the country are too numerous to describe in a
book of this character; but the methods cited in the following, all of
which have been tested in actual working conditions, will serve to
indicate the fundamentals of good retail coffee-sales promotion.

Among the chief sales-winning methods are demonstrations in the store,
at local food shows, and at church socials, picnics or functions,
judicious sampling either in person or by mail, personal canvassing from
house to house, circularizing by mail, linking up window displays with
current happenings, local newspaper and outdoor poster advertising, and
selling coffee by telephone. Most of the foregoing plans are worked
intermittently. The telephone, however, is a most important sales factor
and should be employed constantly and consistently.[342] Many successful
stores consider the telephone, properly used, the greatest single
sales-help in retail coffee-merchandising.

[Illustration: POPULAR FRENCH RETAIL ROASTER

Employing coal, charcoal, or wood fuel]

One grocer had such faith in this method that he paid half the annual
telephone rental for a large number of his best-paying customers.
Another large merchandiser put in an individual telephone for each of
his salesmen, who called up his regular customers each day to suggest
articles for that day's order, always of course mentioning their
"superior brand of coffee." Telephoning is the next step to personal
contact; and if tactfully done, is considered to be even more
advantageous, because of the time it saves both the customer and the
store keeper.

[Illustration: UNO CABINET GAS ROASTER WITH COOLING UNIT

A popular English type]

Coffee demonstrations in stores are easily arranged, in most cases. The
main consideration is fresh coffee of good quality served daintily and
hot. Lacking a coffee urn, some grocers make their brews in large-size
home-service coffee-making devices. Those most advanced in the correct
method of brewing use the drip process. It is generally agreed that
demonstrations should not be held too often. They not only cut into
profits, but lose much of their