Hawker Protests Phoenix Decision On Selling Policy

Two Cambridge hawkers tacked a poster on the Harvard Square Kiosk yesterday, protesting the Boston Phoenix's decision two weeks ago not to use hawkers to distribute its papers.

"The Phoenix decided that the use of hawkers is not economically feasible," Howard Wolk, the general manager of the Phoenix, said yesterday.

The poster was colorful: the slogan was written with bright red ink and dramatically punctuated with a knife dripping blood.

Richard Eagles, a hawker for three years and the designer of the poster, spent the day selling The Real Paper and soliciting support from passers-by. "The move by the Phoenix was a capitalistic move, which exploited the little people," Eagles said yesterday. "It will be very hard for us to make money now. The Phoenix's decision can only help Out of Town News, which has already made millions."

A manager of Out of Town News who refused to give his name felt that the overall sales increase would not be much if any at all. "The hawkers will make up for their loss of Phoenix sales by increased Real Paper sales," he said.

Eagles disagreed with the manager's prediction. "My earnings have decreased by 35 per cent in the last two weeks."

"The Phoenix used us to introduce their paper, and we made them big," Eagles said yesterday. "Now they just want to forget about us."

Walter Harrison, general manager of The Real Paper, said yesterday they planned to continue their current policy of selling through hawkers.