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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
HATTING recently with a dealer who has commenced to ex-
V_> ploit his own pianos, he remarked: "Our instruments are
just as good as the Steinway and other leading makes," and he
named a number of persons of national reputation to whom he had
disposed of instruments of his own brand, recently.
Is it not a fact that some of the dealers who have become manu-
facturers have used some of the greatest names in piano history to
launch their own pianos upon the market and have not the great
names suffered in the end?
OW easy it is for salesmen to use the argument with people
who are not well informed upon the special merits of each
instrument that his concern has represented such and such pianos for
many years and they know the respective points of each instrument.
When they commenced to manufacture their own, they included every
good part of all the instruments, hence the—piano represents the
highest type of piano making, striking a blow all the while at the
leading instruments which they still carry as a means of drawing
in trade. Possibly they may place a higher price upon their own
creations than upon the instruments of established reputation, in
that way cleverly emphasizing the value of their instruments.
H
T is a subject which manufacturers will do well to look into
carefully, not forgetting that there are many men over the coun-
try who emblazon their windows with alluring piano signs, and
have their buildings lettered with the names of great makers to
lure people in where they are offered the "just as good" or instru-
ments of their "own make which are really better from every stand-
point than those which have been before the world and have occu-
pied a leading position for half a century."
I
T might be well to keep matters like this well in mind, for it
cannot be denied that the great names give dignity and empha-
sis to a piano business in any locality. Every dealer of intelligence
knows this and instead of trying to build up his reputation by tear-
ing down the other, he should not lose sight of the value to him of
the great instruments. He should treat them with all the fairness
which is due their makers, and should not use them simply as an
attractive power to customers and then attempt to belittle them by
offering them the "just as good."
There is money to be made by legitimate work for instruments
of quality and established reputation. There is a need, however, of
emphasizing this point, and dealers who treat pianos of quality and
reputation fairly, have no reason to fear indifference on the part of
the manufacturers. But to take instruments and use them simply
as a drawing power without making the sales that should be hon-
estly made, is to use the manufacturer in an unfair manner.
I
URING the past week we have received many letters from
manufacturers and dealers who have visited St. Louis and
have been most favorably impressed with the work The Review is
carrying on at that point.
One manufacturer, the head of a great Chicago institution,
writes: "I want to congratulate you upon the splendid loca-
tion you have for your booth, also the cosy nature of the surround-
ings, as well as the artistic effects produced. You certainly are
doing magnificent work for the music trade industry."
D
HE publicity which The Review is giving the industry at the
World's Fair is of the most desirable kind. The work is
entirely original, and our clients are greatly pleased with the results
obtained.
Dealers from all over this country and many interested in the
sale of musical wares in foreign countries have visited The Review
booth and have expressed surprise at the magnitude of our work.
All who visit the Exposition are invited to make our headquarters
their home during their tarry at the Exposition. It is our desire
to maintain a trade rendezvous in the broadest sense.
T
T is time now for the up-to-date dealer to get in shape for fall
business. There is always a certain amount of rehabilitation
of warerooms which can be made easily during the duller months.
Attractive warerooms count in the most emphatic manner as
business assets, and a bright, cheerful business environment is a
splendid aid. A little of the decorative art applied dur-
ing the summer months will help materially when trade begins to
brighten up in the early fall.
I
9
OME of the biggest houses in this country appreciate fully the
benefits of attractive warerooms. Steinway Hall is under-
going a complete metamorphosis as far as interior effects are con-
cerned and when the decorators and painters shall have completed
their work will be transformed so that it will be hardly
recognizable.
Even the interior rooms, which are usually dark, will be
lighted in such a way as to render them most attractive, by a light-
ing arrangement, which is not only decorative but effective. All of
the rooms will be relieved by pleasing mural decorations, tasteful
effects being used throughout.
In this respect American decorative art has undergone a com-
plete transformation during the past few years, when the heavy,
sombre colorings were greatly in vogue.
S
T
O-DAY it is the light airy effects that are considered most de-
sirable. Piano rooms as a whole over the country are dark
and unattractive. They can, however, at moderate expense be made
to form an attractive power rather than to have a repellent influence
upon the caller.
What a contrast between a bright, tastefully colored room,
where the stock is well kept and free from dust, and the heavy
sombre wareroom where the walls are both heavy and dark and the
stock poorly kept. One has an irresistible effect upon the pur-
chaser—it cheers and warms, while in the other the purchaser has
to overcome a natural feeling of repugnance, and the chances of
sales making are much reduced.
D
URING the past month there have been conventions of the hard-
ware dealers who perhaps have the best line of organizations
to be found in any industry.
At their various conventions the catalogue houses came in for the
major part of the discussion. The business of the retail hardware
man, perhaps more than any other, has been effected by the catalogue
house competition.
The president of one association stated that he had not purchased
merchandise from any of the concerns which supplied the catalogue
houses and would urge all other members to do likewise.
T
HIS declaration certainly shows the feeling which the regular
hardware men entertain for the catalogue houses when such
radical means of suppressing them are deemed necessary.
We have been collecting some interesting data upon the cata-
logue house question, and would suggest that any of our readers
whose territory has been invaded by the catalogue house men in the
piano line to forward us some information as to how many sales have
actually been made in their locality by the catalogue houses.
W
E cannot get good business all the time, nor can we make each
successive season always show an increase on the preceding,
but because things are slow at times, it does not mean that business
has gone to pieces.
During the past few months there has been a certain amount of
complaining, but after all the amount of business transacted does not
make as unhealthy a showing as many of our pessimistic friends
would like to have us believe.
A salesman who has recently covered a large section of the
country says to The Review that the outlook appears now to be very
encouraging. Dealers, as a rule, have purchased cautiously during
the spring season and consequently they will be in a position to
place goodly orders for fall trade.
OW, if the traveling men who meet with the retail trade will
cultivate that kind of sentiment and will go out with a de-
termination and expectation of doing business it will encourage the
buyer and help to restore confidence.
There seems to be no good reason for not having good busi-
ness. There are always local conditions that effect trade. This year
it was cotton, last year the coal, this fall election, and next year prob-
ably something else, but this is a fair sized country and with a pow-
erful lot of good people in it who desire pianos—good ones at that.
So let us stop talking about dull trade and talk business in good
straight shoulder hitting style.
It will all help to encourage and stimulate things and, it is good,
energetic, confident business men who keep the ball spinning around
in lively fashion. Make it spin.
N