a Succejj o/ Rural cl!ocalionJ
I
I
SPECIAL ROUTE MANAGEMENT
By Robert Latimer
No profess ion requires more versatility
th an the management of a rural route of
automatic phonographs, says Ralph Den-
ton, of Cuba, Misso uri, who is not only
one of th e best-known , but also one of the
most successful owners in the states of
Illinois and Missouri. Like most ops who
run a successful strin g of machin es in such
varied loca tions as bea uty sho ps and tav-
erns, Mr. Denton started in a small way
fi ve years ago, built his string to huge pro-
portions, th en cut it down to 51 machin es,
whi ch he considers th e ideal size for the
maximum profi ts to be obtain ed. He went
through a long process of learning his mar-
ket, ascertaining th e type of music which
would "sell" in each location , and a great
deal of elementary psycholo gy which is th e
fund amental groundwork of hi s goodwill
a nd profits. The result ? Mr. Den ton's 51
machin es are all paying a consistent profit,
a nd he has been able to purchase 20 new
Wurlitzers each year th rough a novel man -
agement system of proven practicability.
"Competition is actually stronger in r ural
locations than in cities," Mr. Denton told a
Corn MA CHINE REVIEW representa tive. " We
have few er good s pots to sprea d around ,
a nd I have found that even th e most co-
opera tive operator likes to try out new
fi elds occasio nally, with th e r esult th at I
often have quite a bit of fri endly compe-
tition to deal with. I have found, however,
that the things which offset this are r eal
service to the loca tion owner, making him a
partner in th e business, and finally, making
it so profitable for him to push my music
th at it's natu ral for him to do so."
First of the basic poin ts wh ich Mr.
Denton considers vital to insurin g his busi-
ness from th e ground u p is a steady policy
of introducing new machines. Unlike many
operators who purchase new machines as
th e need arises, Mr. Denton has always fol -
lowed a strict plan of using a ratio of 20
new machin es to the total of 51. This has
never gone below 19, and th e rest of th e
string, exclusive of a few Wurlitzer 412's,
is less than two yea rs old. The advantage
of this idea, it was pointed out, is that Den-
ton can deprecia te his better machines in
thi s territory in to p-flight locations, th en
move them down without sacrificing one bit
of the a pproval involved. All location
owners on his string appreciate th e idea,
and th e 20 new machines purchased yearly
are a convincin g argument for allowing him
any spot. Although Denton's routes cover
milk bars, drug stores, beauty shops, tav-
erns, and dancehalls, there is always a new
machine fo r the right loca tion, and by co n-
tinually offering this newness-feature, he
makes certain that no one can make a bet-
ter offer.
Service, wh ere the spots are often sepa-
ra ted by as much as twen ty mil es, is an-
oth er im portant factor, one of th e most, in
fac t. Denton's machines all bear a tag
promising speed-limit servic::e in case of
any breakdown-and this is no idle boast.
He has one permanent servi ce man who is
kept busy with tha t sole occupation , a nd
can usually reach th e spot within a half-
hour or fo rty-fi ve minutes, no matter how
far away. On each service call, the service
man leaves th e telephone number at Den-
ton's offi ce, and is often routed over the ter-
ritory for an entire day without touching
th e home office. Contiguously with this it
might be mentioned that Denton's route has
a larger amount of service calls than the
average-attesting to the huge amount of
use poured on every machine. Location
owners have lea rn ed to depend on quick
service of this type, and that con fi dence is
a stron g selling point in every case.
Selecting records is the toughes t job of
all, Denton says, in compari son with the
comparatively easy task of the metropolitan
phonograph operator. City tastes are usual-
ly closely alli ed, and the same music will
pull n ickels, whereas in th e country or
suburb an areas, no such situation exists.
For example, spo tted directly in between
two phonographs whi ch play nothing but
to p-fli ght numb ers by leading popularity
bands is one machine which averages $49
per week on a straight menu of hill-biJJy
numb ers. Other locations are in exact re-
verse. The only plausible way to explain
this, Denton says, is that 25% of his ma-
chin es carry straight sweet music, 25%
hill-biJly numbers, and the remaind er is
scattered in varyin g ratios of popular
bands and novelty hill-billy stuff.
For that reason, Denton has to have
daily contact with his locations, and travels
his entire route almost every day. Five
years of ex perience has taught him to make
the right selections-and in only rare cases
is his judgment unprofitable. • He usually
pi cks 12 hit-parade numbers and 12 novelty
or hill-billy selections, depending on the
youth fa ctor prevalent at each location.
Occasionally, when one machin e fall s off
sharply, changing over from novelties to a
straight progra m of sweet music oft en re-
vitalizes th e profits-this occurring about
once a month on th e average.
All Denton's phonogra phs are changed
completely every week, and as an im portant
point, always at the same precise time.
This clocklike regularity appeals stron gly
to lo ca tions, he has found , and for th at rea-
son he is never more than two minutes off
on record time in any week. This r equ ires
carefully- planned tim e and service, but al-
ways pays results. Th e cash box is always
opened at this time, and commi ssions pai d
aft er th e merchant or owner has super-
vised the counting personally. Denton has
never had a complaint from this angle, and
enjoys unusually complete con fi dence from
every location.
Pushing music wh erever poss ible in good
locations has also paid results. In th ese
spots, usually fin e res taurants, Denton
mak es up a musical menu to co mpl ement
th e real menu, and sees tha t they are left
on tables wh ere wai tresses may suggest
various songs. H e also gives the owner one
"special reques t" a week-- knowing th at
th e location owner will su~gest hi s own
favorite to his patrons.
Finall y, Denton makes a co mplete profit-
analysis twice a year fo r his spo ts, and
shows the owner ca refull y how the machine
can aid both of them. He uses a hill-book
bookkeepin g system, makin g an original of
each week's in come fo r th e owner, and a
duplicate fo r th e fi les. This policy makes
th e average loca tion wide awake to the de-
si rability of pushing the machine, and has
paid excell ent results during Denton's five
♦
yea r experi ence.
lnanaediatt!
RECORD SERVICE
Within a few hours of you is an Authorized
RCA-Victor Distributor who understands the
specialized needs of Phonograph Operators
and is equipped to give you immediate
record service.
~ - - - BOSTON, MASS.-- - ~
Eastern Company
620 Memorial Dr., Cambridge
29
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
DENVER, COLO.
Hendrie and Holthoff Mfg. & Sup.
Co.
1635 17th St.
-
MILWAUKEE, WIS. - -
Taylor Electric Company
112 North Broadway
NEWARK, N. J.
Krich-Radisco, Inc.
422 Elizabeth Avenue
NEW YORK, N. Y. - - ~
Bruno-New York, Incorporated
460 West 34th Street
-
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Raymond Rosen & Compa~
32nd and Walnut Street~!
I
- - WASHINGTON, D. C. ~
Southern Wholesalers, Inc.
1519 "L" St., N.W.
202 S. Pulaski St., Baltimore, Md.
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