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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
GREAT INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY PREVAILS IN DETROIT.
Busy Times at Many Manufacturing Plants Presages More Piano Sales for Future — Making
i
Plans for Lively Meeting of Association—Goodfellowhip Club to Give Dance.
(Special to The Review.)
DETROIT, MICH., April 13.—Business with piano
music dealers during the past week showed a
slight improvement. The weather has been ideal
for spring and the streets have been crowded.
Whenever this condition exists there is sure to be
more or less buying and every class of store bene-
iits. For Easter, the windows of music dealers
were appropriately trimmed, most of them display-
ing flowers in profusion.
"While business was quiet in March, it cannot
fail to improve during April and May," said one
Woodward avenue dealer to The Review repre-
sentative. "Detroit's factories in all lines are busier
at this time than they have been in many many
months. I know it to b^ a certainty that at least
twelve automobile factories are advertising in other
cities for help. They say they cannot get sufficient
skilled workmen here. Many of the factories are
working day and night shifts. And not only are
the auto factories busy, but so are other lines of
trad?. Business conditions, as a whole, never
looked better, and I don't see how the music trade
can fail to get a share of the prosperity. A real
estate man told me that the demand was unpre-
cedented for homes, most people getting away from
the idea of renting. And that's a good thing for
us because wherever there is a home that is owned
by the people who occupy it, there is a live prosp ct
for either a piano or piano-player. The argument
that 'no home is complete without a musical in-
strument,' is a sensible one and a convincing one
for salesmen to use."
President Arthur H. Howes, manager of the
piano department of Grinnell Bros., and president
of the n.'wly organized Detroit Music Trades As-
sociation, is looking forward to a largely attended
and interesting meeting of the association on
April 13.
F. P. Andrews, manager of the J. L. Hudson
music department, has been busy taking up mat-
ters in connection with the new store at 188-190
Woodward avenue, which the Hudson Co. will oc-
cupy with its music department. At 6 o'clock,
April 1, contractors started to tear out things in
the structure at that address, and they have been at
it vigorously ever since. Every minute counts and
the contractors have promised to do "the quickest job
of their lives." When the remodeling is completed,
the building at 188-190 Woodward avenue, will look
like a new structure; in fact, it will practically be
a new one. And it won't take over six weeks to
do the job. Mr. Andrews is looking forward to
doing business at the new location by May 15.
Meanwhile, a removal sale is being conducted on
the seventh floor of the main 1 fudson building that
is productive of good result-;. Sales are better on
new instruments than on second-hand oirs; as a
matter of fact, a lot of sales are made where old
pianos are taken in and allowances made. But dis-
posing of second-hand instruments is not an easy
pioposition. People seem to prefer paying a little
extra and getting something absolutely new. They
take greater pride in a new instrument. More than
one music dealer has remarked lately that getting
rid of second-hand instruments is "getting to be
;>. tough proposition."
"Everything comes to him who waits" is the
basis on which the members of the Detroit Piano
Co. are constantly working. In other words, they
contend that if you just keep persistently at any-
thing, treat the public right, have the right kind of
merchandise to offer, business is sure to come. It
may not come all at once, but the sales for the year
will justify the effort. "January and February
were kind of dull, and so was the first part of
March, but the last wek in March we sold four
player-pianos in four days, two of them Mehlin
players, one Emerson player and one Emerson up-
right," said F. M. Ramsdell, of the Detroit Piano
Co. "All of them were new instruments, and on
each sale we received a good sized deposit. We
lind that it never pays to get pessimistic during a
dull period because it is sure to be followed with
good business. We (speaking for three members
of the firm and H. A. Smith, salesman) spend all
of our time chasing up prospects personally, and
find that it gets results."
Just as we go to press we are informed that the
Goodfellowship Club, which includes in its mem-
bership the male employes of Grinnell Bros., De-
troit, is getting ready to give a masquerade dance
at the Clark Dancing Academy. It is to be the
first event of the kind attempted by the club, but
judging from the enthusiasm and interest, it is
going to be a big success. The ladies are to be
invited, and this will also be the first time that the
club has given an affair where the ladies were
present. Usually the Goodfellowship Club doings
are for the men only. Chairman P. W. Guest of
thj committee, handling the dance, says he looks
for an attendance of approximately 200 people.
Manager C. W. Cross, of the Bush & Lane
Piano Co., in Detroit, says th^re is no such word
as "dull" as applied to business. "It's just a case
of going after it," he says. One of his star sales-
men, Lawrence II. Davis, who has been with him
for about four months, and who was formerly a
member of the piano firm of Stanley & Son, sold
th* first Bush & Lane Cecilian player-piano that
arrived in the store; the sale was made on March
27 for $750 spot cash, and it took only about ten
minutes to "turn the trick." "All I had to do was
to take off the front board and let the man see the
construction of this wonderful instrument," said
Mr. Davis. "The man asked how soon we could
send it up, and when we told him inside of
an hour, he immediately wrote out a check for the
$7;"iO." Since then this branch has sold four of the
players. At the time the writer called, none were
in stock although several prospective customers
were waiting to see them. Mr. Cross says that the
new Farrand player, s'lling at $1.50, the first of
which he received on April 1, is making quite a
hit. "It is by far the best player for that money
that I have ever seen," he said.
PARENTS GET PIANOS FOR SCHOOLS.
\
j
Example of New Orleans Citizens Should Have
Indorsement of the Trade.
GUARANTEED
MUSICROLLS
Through the efforts of the parents of school
children in New Orleans in raising funds a num-
ber of the schools of that city have been sup-
plied with pianos and other musical instruments
that in the ordinary course of events would have
been compelled to go without means for musical
instruction and entertainment. Lack of funds in
the hands of the school board has prevented the
purchase of pianos, but when parents have raised
an amount approximating half or more of the en-
tire cost of an instrument the school board has
shown a willingness to appropriate the balance.
The example of the parents in New Orleans
should prove an inspiration to parents in other
cities and should receive the cordial indorsement
of the piano men.
T
HE satisfaction of a customer
does not depend entirely on
the quality of the goods. Serv-
ice is of vital importance.
It has been for this reason that we
have devoted much time to the care-
ful study of the requirements of
piano merchants with the result that
our service department has become
one of the most efficient in the world.
ih
Samuel J. Smith has opened a piano store in
Shamokin, Pa.
iin:
Three Distributing Points, Where
Orders Are Shipped the Same
Day As Received
GONNQRIZED MUSIC
144 thSt.and Austin Place, NEW YORK
CHICAGO,
ST.LOUIS, PITTSBURGH,
209So.StateSt. 1234OIive5t. 8
You make the most profits
with Quality Benches, so
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