Carter Hawley Boosts Sales Force at Broadway Division

As part of its campaign to improve customer service, the 42-store Broadway-Southern California division of Carter Hawley Hale Stores hired 400 new salespeople in May and plans to hire 200 more soon, Chairman Philip M. Hawley said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters after the annual meeting, Hawley also said the Los Angeles-based company expects to show quarterly earnings gains through year-end of more than the 26% reported in the first quarter, which ended May 3.

Hawley emphasized that the company’s customer service program is key to the anticipated growth in earnings. He described the program as being “a move away from a dependency solely on price and toward dependence on service.”

Under the program, all salespeople in the company’s six department store divisions, including Emporium Capwell and Weinstock’s, are operating on either group or individual commission. By September, he said, 70% of such employees will be receiving individual commissions. The commission rate for individuals is 6.5% of sales.

By year-end, the company plans to increase the number of sales associates by 10%. It expects to have 60,000 employees, up about 7% from the 56,000 at the end of 1985. That will include a higher proportion of sales personnel and a lower proportion of back-office workers.

He also noted that the company is continuing to cut costs by better controlling inventories and by consolidating back-office functions.

Hawley said the company will report today a 5.2% increase in sales for the four weeks ended May 31. Sales for the month were about $273 million, up from $259 million in May, 1985.