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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
NEW YORK'S PRESENT RETAIL PIANO TRADE CENTER—(Continued from page 7.)
in an area between Twenty-ninth and Thirty-
fourth streets, while the other consists of the
Fifth avenue section between Thirty-eighth and
Forty-second streets. Although Fifth avenue is
the center of this district, there are numerous
piano warerooms on the side streets, adjoining or
very close to Fifth avenue, located between
Twenty-ninth and Forty-second streets.
Results of the Uptown Movement.
Coincident with the removal of these piano ware-
rooms a mile northward, plans for the construc-
tion of the various buildings or warerooms dif-
fered radically from the former buildings, as the
piano men naturally determined to have their es-
tablishments fully in accord with the artistic beauty
and dignity of all the business houses along the
new Piano Row. This change in appearance is
better understood when it is realized that Tiffany
& Co., the world's premier jewelry house, is lo-
ent-day retail warerooms as a whole form one of
the most attractive sets of retail establishments in
a city that is noted for the splendor and magnifi-
cence of its stores. That the enormous ex-
penditures by the piano merchants during the past
few years have reaped a profitable harvest is main-
tained by every piano man along Piano Row, and
this added prestige and standing are now important
assets of the Fifth avenue piano warerooms.
The interiors of the piano warerooms along
Piano Row are beautiful and artistic without being
exaggerated in their architecture or furnishings.
Gaudiness and a multiplicity of colors are prac-
tically unknown in the high-class Fifth avenue
piano warerooms, and a dignified, quiet tone of
decoration forms a perfect setting for expensive
grands, uprights and players. With the remark-
able success of the player-piano, it became neces-
sary to construct sound-proof demonstration rooms
Heart of Present New York Retail Piano District,
Mo. 1—F. G. Smith, 335 Fifth avenue.
Looking
South
from
permanency and stability for the present Piano
Row for at least ten years to come. Lord & Tay-
lor have but recently moved into a magnificent
new building at Thirty-eighth street and Fifth
avenue, in the heart of Piano Row. Stern Bros,
are occupying a beautiful new home on West
Forty-second street, a few doors from the Aeolian
Hall, while James McCreery & Co. have recently
concentrated their business in their store at Thirty-
fourth street and Fifth avenue, closing their other
store at Twenty-third street and Sixth avenue.
B. Altman & Co. are now completing a new wing
to their building, which will give them a square
block, and assures their remaining in the district
for many years. Bonwit, Teller & Co. are quar-
tered at Thirty-eighth street and Fifth avenue,
while numerous other prominent retail establish-
ments assure the future business prosperity of
Piano Row.
Thirty-third
Street and Fifth Avenue.
No. 2—Sohmer i Co., 315 Fifth avenue. No. 3—Mason & Hamlin Co., 313 Fifth avenue.
No. 5—M. Welte & Sons, Inc., 273 Fifth avenue.
cated in a magnificent home at Thirty-seventh
street and Fifth avenue; B. Altman & Co., one
of the country's finest department stores, occupies
a model building of dignity and refinement at
Thirty-fourth street and Fifth avenue; the Wal-
dorf-Astoria Hotel, internationally celebrated for
the prestige of its clientele, is situated in the center
of the new Piano Row, while numerous art studios
of note and rug establishments of international
prominence, are established in this district. It was
not alone the substantial character of the neigh-
boring business institutions that prompted the
piano houses to spend huge sums of money on
their new buildings or warerooms. but rather the
fact that the new district was certain to attract
the very best trade in the city, and the realization
that the additional transportation facilities would
also be the medium for attracting the best class of
trade from near-by towns.
The Present Day Piano Warerooms.
The results of this determination on the part
of the piano houses are now evident, as the pres-
vvhich are to be found in all the leading show-
rooms. There are constantly being added to the
furnishings and decorations new ideas along the
lines of improvements and distinction that bespeak
plainly the belief of the piano men in the future
prosperity of the present Piano Row.
The Influence of Transit Facilities.
This belief is well-founded, as the magnificent
new Pennsylvania Railroad Terminal at Thirty-
second street and Seventh avenue is the destina-
tion of thousands and thousands of out-of-town
visitors and commuters, who, finding themselves
in the heart of the best retail district of New York,
are naturally attracted by its many points of in-
terest, which attraction, of course, benefits the
dealers along Fifth avenue. The Hudson Tun-
nels, discharging their vast number of passengers
at Thirty-third street and Sixth avenue, their
northern extremity, also add to the popularity of
Fifth avenue as a shopping district of the highest
class. It is the erection of new buildings for the
leading department stores, however, that spells
No. 4—Tel-Electric Co., 209 Fifth avenue.
It is interesting to note that the newspapers are
fully cognizant of the importance of Fifth avenue
and Forty-second street as high-class shopping
districts, and a number of articles last Sunday
called attention to noteworthy building operations
that will add to the importance of these two thor-
oughfares. One of these new buildings is being
erected by Rogers, Peet & Co., the well-known
clothing house, which will occupy a ten-story build-
ing at the corner of Forty-first street and Fifth
avenue, running through to Forty-second street.
The Goelet building is being constructed at Thirty-
seventh street and Fifth avenue, while a thirty-five
story skyscraper will soon be started at Times
Square.
One of the Trade Magnets.
One building in the local retail piano trade that
is specially worthy, of note is the new Aeolian Hall,
located at 27 West Forty-second street, a few
doors west of Fifth avenue. Although this com-
pany had been established in an imposing structure
(Continued on Page 10.)