What is "jobbing house"

Jobbing \Job"bing\, a.

1. Doing chance work or odd jobs; as, a jobbing carpenter.

2. Using opportunities of public service for private gain; as, a jobbing politician.
   --London Sat. Rev.

   Jobbing house, a mercantile establishment which buys from importers, wholesalers or manufacturers, and sells to retailers. [U.S.]

n. A wholesale merchant business that buys goods and bulk products from importers, other wholesalers, or manufacturers, and then sells to retailers.

A jobbing house (also known as a "jobber" or jobbing center) is a type of wholesale merchant business that buys goods and bulk products from importers, other wholesalers, or manufacturers, and then sells to retailers. Jobbing houses can deal in any commodity destined for the retail market. Typical categories are food, lumber, hardware, fuel, and textiles. Some manufacturers are also jobbers for their own finished goods. Though common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the term has become archaic.