Thursday
presented an ideal opportunity to create a seller’s market. All he needed to do
was stockpile some of the most popular items from the tuck shop, then flog them
off at a profit as soon as the other boys had consumed their weekly supplies.
When the tuck
shop opened the following Friday, Keith was to be found at the front of the
queue. The duty master was surprised that young Townsend spent U purchasing a
large carton of Minties, an even larger one of thirty-six packets of chips, two
dozen Cherry Ripes and two wooden boxes containing a dozen bottles of
Marchants’ lemonade. He reported the incident to Keith’s housemaster. Mr.
Clarke’s only observation was, “I’m surprised that Lady Townsend indulges the
boy with so much pocket money.”
Keith dragged
his spoils off to the changing room, where he hid everything at the back of his
games locker. He then waited patiently for the weekend to pass.
On the Saturday
afternoon Keith cycled off to the racecourse, although he was meant to be
watching the first eleven play their annual match against Geelong Grammar. He
had a frustrating time, unable to place any bets.
Strange, he
reflected, how you could always pick winner after winner when you had no money.
After chapel on
Sunday, Keith checked the senior and junior common rooms, and was delighted to discover
that food and drink supplies were already running low. During the Monday
morning break he watched his classmates standing around in the corridor,
swapping their last sweets, unwrapping their final chocolate bars and swigging
their remaining gulps of lemonade.
On Tuesday
morning he saw the rows of empty bottles being lined up by the dustbins in the
corner of the quad. By the afternoon he was ready to put his theory into
practice.
During the games
period he locked himself into the school’s small printing room, for which his
father had supplied the equipment the previous year.
Although the
press was fairly ancient and could only be worked by hand, it was quite
adequate for Keith’s needs.
An hour later he
emerged clutching thirty copies of his first tabloid, which announced that an
alternative tuck shop would be open every Wednesday between the hours of five
and six, outside locker number nineteen in the senior changing room. The other
side of the page showed the range of goods on offer and their “revised” prices.
Keith
distributed a copy of the news sheet to every member of his class at the
beginning of the final lesson that afternoon, completing the task only moments
before the geography master entered the room. He was already planning a bumper
edition for the following week if the exercise turned out to be a success.
When Keith
appeared in the changing room a few minutes before five the following
afternoon, he found a queue had already formed outside his locker. He quickly
unbolted the tin door and tugged the boxes out onto the floor. Long before the
hour was up, he had sold out of his entire stock.
A mark-up of at
least 25 percent on most items showed him a clear profit of just over a pound.
Only Desmond
Motson, who had stood in a comer watching the money changing hands, grumbled
about Townsend’s extortionate prices. The young entrepreneur simply told him,
“You have a choice. You can join the queue or wait till Friday.” Motson had
stalked out of the changing room, muttering veiled threats under his breath.
On Friday
afternoon Keith was back at the front of the tuck shop queue and, having made a
note of which items had sold out first, purchased his new stock accordingly.
When Mr. Clarke
was informed that Townsend had spent 41 thou on tuck that Friday, he admitted
to being puzzled, and decided to have a word with the headmaster.
That Saturday
afternoon Keith didn’t go to the racecourse, using the time to print up a
hundred pages of the second edition of his sales sheet, which he distributed
the following Monday-not only to his own classmates, but also to those in the
two forms below
presented an ideal opportunity to create a seller’s market. All he needed to do
was stockpile some of the most popular items from the tuck shop, then flog them
off at a profit as soon as the other boys had consumed their weekly supplies.
When the tuck
shop opened the following Friday, Keith was to be found at the front of the
queue. The duty master was surprised that young Townsend spent U purchasing a
large carton of Minties, an even larger one of thirty-six packets of chips, two
dozen Cherry Ripes and two wooden boxes containing a dozen bottles of
Marchants’ lemonade. He reported the incident to Keith’s housemaster. Mr.
Clarke’s only observation was, “I’m surprised that Lady Townsend indulges the
boy with so much pocket money.”
Keith dragged
his spoils off to the changing room, where he hid everything at the back of his
games locker. He then waited patiently for the weekend to pass.
On the Saturday
afternoon Keith cycled off to the racecourse, although he was meant to be
watching the first eleven play their annual match against Geelong Grammar. He
had a frustrating time, unable to place any bets.
Strange, he
reflected, how you could always pick winner after winner when you had no money.
After chapel on
Sunday, Keith checked the senior and junior common rooms, and was delighted to discover
that food and drink supplies were already running low. During the Monday
morning break he watched his classmates standing around in the corridor,
swapping their last sweets, unwrapping their final chocolate bars and swigging
their remaining gulps of lemonade.
On Tuesday
morning he saw the rows of empty bottles being lined up by the dustbins in the
corner of the quad. By the afternoon he was ready to put his theory into
practice.
During the games
period he locked himself into the school’s small printing room, for which his
father had supplied the equipment the previous year.
Although the
press was fairly ancient and could only be worked by hand, it was quite
adequate for Keith’s needs.
An hour later he
emerged clutching thirty copies of his first tabloid, which announced that an
alternative tuck shop would be open every Wednesday between the hours of five
and six, outside locker number nineteen in the senior changing room. The other
side of the page showed the range of goods on offer and their “revised” prices.
Keith
distributed a copy of the news sheet to every member of his class at the
beginning of the final lesson that afternoon, completing the task only moments
before the geography master entered the room. He was already planning a bumper
edition for the following week if the exercise turned out to be a success.
When Keith
appeared in the changing room a few minutes before five the following
afternoon, he found a queue had already formed outside his locker. He quickly
unbolted the tin door and tugged the boxes out onto the floor. Long before the
hour was up, he had sold out of his entire stock.
A mark-up of at
least 25 percent on most items showed him a clear profit of just over a pound.
Only Desmond
Motson, who had stood in a comer watching the money changing hands, grumbled
about Townsend’s extortionate prices. The young entrepreneur simply told him,
“You have a choice. You can join the queue or wait till Friday.” Motson had
stalked out of the changing room, muttering veiled threats under his breath.
On Friday
afternoon Keith was back at the front of the tuck shop queue and, having made a
note of which items had sold out first, purchased his new stock accordingly.
When Mr. Clarke
was informed that Townsend had spent 41 thou on tuck that Friday, he admitted
to being puzzled, and decided to have a word with the headmaster.
That Saturday
afternoon Keith didn’t go to the racecourse, using the time to print up a
hundred pages of the second edition of his sales sheet, which he distributed
the following Monday-not only to his own classmates, but also to those in the
two forms below
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