Now that Shopping Week* is with us it would certainly not do to omit mention of the organisers, since people are only too willing to take such things for granted without giving a thought as to how they originated. Mr. Baldwin, the Co-operative manager, was the first to make a move in the matter.  He wrote to several shopkeepers asking if they would meet him at his office, and Mr. L. Stebbings was made chairman, with Mr. Baldwin as secretary, and Messrs. A. Barlow, H. Haynes, H. J. Harris, W. Knight, A. J. Wittering, and F. Turner comprising the committee.        

Mr. Stebbings, as most people know, is a Wellingburian, He has had a wide business experience, having been "on the road" at 18, when his travelling took him all over the British Isles. He was afterwards a boot manufacturer, and it was following his demobilisation that he came to Burton three years ago to carry on the business formerly in the hands of Mr. H. Chapman, a business which has now been established 25 years. If energy and initiative will make the venture a success its success is assured as far as Mr. Stebbings is concerned, for he has plenty of both.

Mr. Baldwin is another eminently go-ahead business man who should be of great value to Burton. It would have been impossible to find anyone more suitable for the position of secretary, and the new departure should be another feather in his cap. Although he has only been in the town 13 months he has already made things hum, and no criterion of his business ability is required other than knowledge of the fact that the Society's sales show an increase of £5,000 since his arrival. However, something of the sort might well have been expected, in view of his previous excellent work as manager of the Co-operative Central Branch at High Wycombe, where he had spent nine years, having gone there from Desborough, his native place. Both from his practical experience and from his studies, which brought him, amongst other certificates, that of merit from the Metropolitan College, he is admirably qualified for his posi­tion. He also spent three years in the Army serving with the R.G.A. in France.

The members of the committee are, of course, all well-known. They are anxious to do everything possible for the good of the town, and we hope their anticipations of good results from Shopping Week will be fulfilled.

SHOPKEEPERS JOIN HANDS

It might be said that every shopkeeper is supporting the scheme, from the butcher and the baker to the candlestick maker, but to be precise there does not appear to be a candlestick maker. However, the effort is undeniably a pleasingly general one, and it is interesting to briefly review its supporters.

Mr. A. Barlow, and Councillor F. Barlow are, of course, carrying on the business of their father, the late Ald. C. Barlow, J.P., the former having taken over the grocery and drapery business, while the latter is equally well known as a butcher. Mr G. Farrar is following in the footsteps of Mr. G. Sturman as a purveyor of sweets - a very nice trade, too, one would imagine - and Mr. A. J. Wittering carries on the old established house-furnishing business founded by his mother. Mr. H. Haynes, continuing the business carried on for many years by Mr. D. James and his son, knows as much about grocery as he does about millinery, and everybody knows what a strong and up-to-date concern is the local Co-operative Society, with its two branches and extensive trade.

Then there is Mr. J. Meadows, well known all over the district as a bus proprietor with up-to-date and comfortable vehicles. Mr. F. W. Turner has what is undoubtedly one of the best stocked china stores in the neighbourhood, having recently removed to handsome premises in Finedon-road.

'As the only chemist in the town Mr. H. J. Harris is, of course, particularly welcome, and Mr. Benford, the hairdresser, has as many customers in Finedon-street as he did in the High-street.

Mr. Arthur Coles, whose shop is in Newman-street, has been in the boot trade all his life, and Mr. B. B. Pownall is equally well acquainted with the bakery trade. In Mr. A. Ward we have a cycle agent with premises in a good position, and Mr. F. Evans is another gentleman who attends to footwear comfort. Messrs. Coles and Son carry on the carrier's business formerly in the hands of Mr. J. Bland, and Mr. Daker, manager at the Post Office, for Mrs. W. A, Charles, admirably looks after stationery and fancy goods. In Mr. A. Coles is another hairdresser-tobac­conist, and Mr. Elmore and his branch of the Kettering butcher's shop concludes the list of tradespeople as such. The Palace, whose re­opening has been so welcome, is of course, managed by Mr. Watts, of Welingborough, a gentleman of wide experience in his particular sphere.

*With the formation of an Urban Council in 1923, the business community promoted a "Shopping Week". The above mentioned committee was formed to organise the event.