Quickfire shop renovation

AN example of American hustle of a kind that is rarely seen in Dunedin has just been put into practice by Mr Arthur Barnett in connection with certain structural alterations to his shop, which were carried out over the weekend. The work was extensive and he sought to complete it within an extremely short space of time and without interfering with the ordinary course of business in his shop. When a reporter walked into his shop on Friday evening ‘‘the sale’’ was at its height. The reporter returned yesterday, and could not help being greatly struck with the

transformation which has been effected. One new department altogether has been created, and a sort of ‘‘general post’’ has been applied to the others, many of which have been improved by widening or by the provision of an entire set of new fixtures. The reduction of fixtures has been made available for patrons a space of 4ft wide and extending for a distance of 100ft throughout the building; the floor space of both the millinery and costume workrooms has been trebled; and a new ladies’ waiting room has been provided, with an entrance from the show room. The great bulk of this and a vast amount of other work was carried to completion between 10 p.m. on Friday and midnight on Saturday. Including the painters, close on 100 men were employed, and these men, who worked in relays, had their meals on the premises in order to save time. The rate of wages worked out at 5s 4d per minute, roughly speaking 135,000ft of timber was handled, while 10,000ft of

new fixtures was fitted, many of these having been made beforehand and merely requiring to be fitted into their places.