Papers relating to the Higbee Company

The collection consists of papers relating to a survey of the Higbee Company, a department store in Cleveland, Ohio, conducted by E. H. Stewart of the Associated Dry Goods Corporation on behalf of the store's creditors in 1932 and subsequent years. It includes a series of reports analyzing Higbee's inventory, financial picture, wages as a percentage of sales, salary ranges, competitiveness as compared to other stores, and floor plans of the store.

The collection also contains training manuals, some written by women, for all parts of an operation that centered on women consumers. Stewart did an extensive survey of buying habits and store confidence comparing several department stores in the Cleveland trading area. The materials include the questionnaire, instructions for administering it to consumers (who are assumed to be women), notes on the survey and its survey results, and Stewart's suggestions to the Higbee store, "Notes on Public Opinion," of October 19, 1932.