You know the Stacey department-stores and their allied dry-goods and garment-trade interests?" - it is the sentence i cant understand.
Please, can anyone explain it to me with simple words what allied interests mean referring the Stacey department stores?
And this is a continuation of the text if it helps to explain better:
" Of course we knew of the gigantic dry-goods combination. It had been the talk of the press at the time of its formation, a few months ago, especially as it included among its organisers one very clever business woman, Miss Rebecca Wend. There had been considerable opposition to the combination in the trade, but Stacey had shattered it by the sheer force of his personality. McCormick leaned forward and, shaking his forefinger to emphasise his point, replied slowly, “Practically every one of these fires has been directed against a Stacey subsidiary or a corporation controlled by them.”
Thank you a lot for your help
Allied interests probably covers a range of legal definitions, but implies:
Subsidiary (one owning the other), Partnership (normal meaning of “allied”), or perhaps just with strong relationships perhaps by sharing resources (for example by purchasing jointly) or as supplier and consumer of some significant service or product.
Walmart might have allied interests with suppliers of food products or of clothing.
Genral Foods might own (have a subsidiary) beer manufacturers.
Two companies might have a joint contract with the military to deliver some complex service or product that neither can deliver alone.
It’s not clear what “allied interests” are in your case, just that they share some business relationship, tangible goods, or services.
What herbm said, but as a general approximation, it can be taken to mean any other business which does better when your own business is doing better, and worse when your own business is doing worse (as opposed to competing interests, which do better when you are doing worse and vice versa).
Thank you, it seems I got your point