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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
INCREASED PRICES AND THE DEALER.
ROW OVER PIANOS FOR SCHOOLS.
George H. Munroe, Thirty Years in the Retail Piano Business, Says Piano Dealers Should
Meet the Situation Gracefully—Just the Outcome of Natural Progress—Fall River Dealer
Started Selling Old Squares and Has Distinction of Founding the First Correspondence
School for Tuning—Tells of the Best Method of Getting and Holding Business.
Arthur J. Crafts Protests Against Awarding of
Contract to Cable Company That They
Finally Get It for Lowest Bid—Personal Ele-
ment Enters Into Debate.
"There is no doubt that the piano dealers all over
the country will accept the raise in the wholesale
price of pianos which seems to be inevitable with a
good grace," said' George H. Munroe, the well-
known Fall River, Masis., piano merchant, who was
in New York last week. "It cannot be expected
that the price should always remain the same. Take
in other lines when a man comes to market he
may find the price of goods up or down. There
is a constant fluctuation. But, in the piano business
there is none of that and the dealer has been
fortunate in knowing just what the price of the
instrument he is going to market to buy, will be.
"All dealers appreciate the fact that there must
now be an increase in the wholesale price and are
preparing to accept it as it comes along. There is
an opinion which prevails, however, in the minds
of the public that the piano dealer makes a tre-
mendous profit on the pianos and player-pianos he
sells, and that he can easily stand an increase in
the cost of 'bis goods without raising the retail
price. I have been in the piano business thirty
years and I fail to see how this can be done. Just
the same as it costs more to manufacture a piano
it costs more in proportion to sell one than it did
years ago.
"Even in conducting a small business it costs
nearly $100 before you have sold a piano and with
the small payments which are received these days
it is a long time before the real profit on a piano is
felt. After all this is the business which pays in
the long run and keeps t ; he business on an even
keel. I have found and I think that other dealers
will bear me out that it is not the patronage from
the wealthy classes which forms the basis of a
strong retail piano business, but that which comes
from the class who regularly pay their weekly
instalments."
Mr. Munroe had a unique start in the piano
business. It was thirty years ago, then a very
young man, that he learned piano tuning and 'regu-
lating. In this he built up quite a trade. At that
time square pianos were very popular. As an ex-
pert regulator and' tuner he came in contact with
instruments which were to be discarded. He would
buy them very cheap, put them in good condition,
then advertise them on a Friday night in the Fall
River daily papers and sell them out the next day
before sundown. In this way he would get rid of
four or five each week, and did a very profitable
business for those times. He continued this for
some time until the local supply of square pianos
gave out, then he went to Boston and purchased
others at auction. Later he took on the Newby
& Evans pianos, which he has handled ever since,
and gave up the other business except when a
square was taken in trade.
Mr. Munroe has the distinction of also starting
and 1 conducting for three years the first corre-
spondence school for tuners in this country. His
warerooms at that time were in the Horton building
on North Main street. During the thirty years of
his experience he has been away from Fall River
in business once for a period of two years. He
was then with the Hext Music Company, Denver,
Colo., part of the time, and Vose & Sons Com-
pany, in Boston, where he was head floor man.
At present his warerooms are at 183 North Main
street, Fall River, and he caters to and secures
the best class of business in the spindle city. He
believes in forceful publicity and square dealing.
"I find irhat the best method' of getting business
is first secure a representative line of pianos of
the highest quality, then display them in such a
way that persons will be attracted to your ware-
room by what they see through the window and
by systematic advertising. Cleanliness is another
asset, and- the more refined and artistic the sur-
roundings the quicker the people will come into
your wareroom, then don't let them get out with-
out making a sale."
Mr. Munroe handles the Henry F. Miller, Lud-
wig, Newby & Evans and Weser pianos, and the
R. S. Howard pianos and player-piano and the
Angelus. Associated in business with him is his
son, Louis R. Munroe.
MANUFACTURERS NEED WORKMEN.
of the opinion that the increase in demand has
come to stay. The result of the election has had
no effect whatsoever on the trade, and the retail
business must be good throughout the country ac-
cording to the orders which are pouring into the
New York manufacturers.
There has been some making up for lost time,
naturally, but most of that has been accomplished
and the overtime work which is in vogue in nearly
every piano factory in New York is being devoted
to getting out the orders which are coming in at
the present time, calling for immediate shipment.
Workmen in most every branch of the business are
needed.
Want Ad Columns of Daily Papers Show That
Business Is Picking Up—Scarcity of Them
in Many Departments in Various Factories.
That there has been a marked stimulation in the
piano manufacturing business in Greater New
York is manifested by the "Want Ads" for piano
workers, which are appearing daily in the metro-
politan newspapers. On Sunday last there were
over thirty in one paper alone; and, combining
them all, there were in the neighborhood of 100.
Most of the manufacturers are optimistic, and are
Steinway & Sons have 4 Lansdens
in Service with Another on Order
lANSDEM
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ELECTRIC TRUCKS
(Special to The Review.)
Richmond, Va., Nov. 18, 1912.
The awarding of contracts for four pianos for
the public schools of this city by the Committee
of Buildings and Furniture of the School Board
resulted in a merry mix-up for a while when Ar-
thur J. Crafts, head of the Crafts Piano Co., ap-
peared before the committee to protest against the
awarding of the contract to the Cable Company,
on the plea that the bids of local piano dealers
had not received the proper consideration. Mr.
Crafts referred particularly to the fact that J. G.
Corley, head of the Corley Piano Co., and State
agent for the Cable Company's pianos, was chair-
man of the committee passing on the bids and
the debate soon took on a decidedly personal aspect.
Mr. Corley denied emphatically that the transac-
tion brought any profit to his company, either di-
rectly or indirectly. The matter was finally set-
tled by awarding the contract to the Cable Com-
pany for four Wellington pianos, which were of-
fered at a price considerably below the lowest bid
of the local dealers. Besides Mr. Crafts, both the
Walter D. Moses & Co., Fergusson-Lee Piano Co.,
and Ferguson Bros, also entered bids, but did not
make formal protest against the awards. It is ru-
mored that the charges and counter-charges will
lead to an investigation for the purpose of set-
tling the matter finally.
OPEN IN BIRMINGHAM, ALA.
Clark & Jones Occupy Handsome Building In
That City and Display Fine Line—To Give
a Series of Recitals During the Winter.
(Special to The Review.)
Birmingham, Ala., Nov. 16, 1912.
Clark & Jones, well known in the piano trade
of the South, with stores at Knoxville and Chat-
tanooga, opened their handsome new building in
the Graves block, this city, last week. The new
building is especially arranged for the require-
ments of the piano business and besides special
demonstrating rooms, there are ten studios and a
large auditorium on the upper floors.
A series of recitals will be given by the com-
pany during the winter. Clark & Jones handle the
Steinway, Weber and other makes of pianos, as
well as a good line of player-pianos. Local branch
under the management of H. S. Jones, junior mem-
ber of the firm.
Ben Feinberg, who has been connected 1 with the
sales department of the American Piano Co., has
been assigned to the Southern territory by the
Foster-Armstrong Co., and after a few days spent
at the factories in East Rochester, N. Y., will
leave on his first trip through that territory.
(F-
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