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THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
13
FREIGHT CONGESTION HAMPERS DETROIT PIANO TRADE
Shortage of Player-Pianos Especially Felt—Visiting Manufacturers Report Flood of Advance Or-
ders—Huge Sign for Grinnell Bros.—Trebilcock Makes Cash Sale of Hardman Player Grand
DETROIT, MICH., November 27.—Quite a num-
C. W. Cross, manager of the Bush & Lane
ber of dealers are reporting a shortage in player- Co. store, 244 Woodward avenue, is putting all
pianos, and are wondering whether they are the efforts of his sales department on the Ce-
really going to be able to get all they want cilian player-piano, and expects to send his firm
for the holiday trade. From the experience more orders than they will be able to take care
of merchants in other lines of trade, it would of. He is also working hard to get rid of
seem that dealers who have failed to place their about twenty second-hand instruments, which
orders by this time will find it difficult to were taken in on trade.
get sufficient goods for the holidays. One
Manager Hartwell, of the J. L. Hudson music
piano manufacturer who visited Detroit last roll department, announced a sale of Q R S
week told his clients that all instruments or- Hawaiian rolls at 40 and 50 cents, and has
dered for the next thirty days would have to been doing a lot of Hawaiian business since.
be shipped by express in order to arrive in time. Each week Mr. Hartwell is allotted about ten
The freight congestion is still a menace to inches of display space in newspapers to adver-
local business. A certain dealer who had a tise his department.
half dozen instruments on the road spent a
In an address before the Salesmanship Club
whole day looking over cars in one freight yard, of Detroit last Saturday Prof. H. L. Hollings-
and finally located four of his instruments. worth, of Columbia University, said that the
Had he not taken the trouble personally to new way to select salesmen was by scientific
look them up, chances are it would have been tests, which determine the efficiency of a man's
several weeks before they would have been de- memory, imagination, ability to learn and a
livered to him.
score of other qualities. Piano dealers say
During the past week four or five manufac- they have had experience with all kinds, but
turers have visited Detroit, and those seen by that the men who succeed are those who are
The Review correspondent stated that they were not afraid of working a few hours overtime to
oversold, and that enough orders were on the get business.
books now to keep them operating to capacity
A. E. Trebilcock, of the Detroit Music Co.,
until February 1, at least. This certainly in- reports a cash sale amounting to $1,750 of a
dicates a healthy situation in the piano industry. Hardman player grand in Circassian walnut to
On Tuesday of the current week will be R. E. Olds, the millionaire automobile manu-
held a conference in Detroit of credit men from facturer, of Lansing, Mich. This is the fourth
all parts of the State. The main object is to piano instrument sold to Mr. Olds by Mr.
discuss certain important legislative measures Trebilcock, and he saw to it personally that this
to be proposed at the coming session. One is last one was delivered to the right spot in
that covering, bad checks, similar to the bad Mr. Old's magnificent city home.
check law, now in force in Colorado. The pro-
Jay Grinnell, of Grinnell Bros., reports that
posed credit men's bill provides for a penalty since the prohibition vote of November 7 his
for the issuance of bad and worthless checks. firm has sold five electric player-pianos, and that
A. A. Grinnell, treasurer of Grinnell Bros., will the sales were all made within two days.
take part in the conference, being a member Rather unusual in face of the fact that all sa-
of the organiaztion as representing his firm.
loons will have to be out of business by May
What is said to be the largest wall sign in De- 1, 1918. Mr. Grinnell admitted that when their
troit has just been completed for Grinnell Bros, present stock of electric pianos is disposed of,
at their wholesale headquarters, State and First this particular department will be a thing of the
streets. The sign is in three colors and covers past.
4,000 square feet of area.
Speaking of fall business, Mr. Grinnell said
Mark P. Campbell, president of the Bram- it was most satisfactory, and as for prohibition,
bach Piano Co., Frank Edgar, of the Wilcox & he believed it would help collections. Grin-
White Co., and G. C. Kavanagh, of the Foster- nell Bros, were quite liberal contributors to
Armstrong Co., were here last week.
the dry campaign fund.
Mr. Campbell came on to see how the spe-
W. H. Huttie, district manager at Detroit for
cial sale of Brambach baby grands was going the Starr Piano Co., returned last week from
at the J. L. Hudson Co. store. The Hudson a ten-day rabbit hunting trip in Ohio. He re-
Co. received two carloads of these instruments ports good business, and says that two-thirds
for the sale, and placed them all on the third of fall sales are on player-pianos. He is find-
floor, making an unusually pretty display. Mr. ing trouble in getting stock.
Campbell said his company had more orders
Two additions will be made to the plants of
on the books than it could fill for immediate de- the Grand Rapids Piano Case Co. on Godfrey
livery.
avenue. Both additions will be of brick, three
Mr. Kavanagh came out to attend the Mich- stories high, about thirty-two by sixty-eight feet
igan-Pennsylvania football game at Ann Arbor, in size. The additions are made necessary by
and went back feeling fine over the Pennsyl- the rapid growth of the business.
vania victory. Incidentally, he stopped off at
Detroit for a few hours and made several calls
NEW STORE IN CLEVELANND
on friends in the piano business.
Chabek Piano Co. Opens for Business With
Full Line of Musical Instruments
THE LEADING LINE
WEAVER PIANOS
Grands, Uprights
and Players
YORK PIANOS
Uprights and Players
LIVINGSTON PIANOS
Uprights and Player-Pianos
If your competitor does not already have this
line, go after it at once.
Weaver Organ & Piano Co.
MANUFACTURERS
YORK, PA.
CLEVELAND, O., November 27.—The Chabek
Piano Co. opened a store at 3684 Fulton road,
last week, the officers of the concern being J.
D. Chabek, president; W. B. Chafcek, vice-presi-
dent; and B. M. Chabek, secretary and treas-
urer. A full line of pianos and players will be
carried in addition to talking machines and
records. It is understood that the present lo-
cation of the new store is only temporary, and
that eventually the business will be moved to
South Brooklyn, the growing section on the
west side of the river, as soon as a suitable
location can be secured.
Will A. Watkin, of the Will A. Watkin Co.,
piano dealers of Dallas, Tex., has been ap-
pointed a member of the executive committee,
which is carrying on a campaign to ra.ise $90,000
for the United Charities.
The
CHRISTMAS
Piano
"Par
Excellence"
The
HARDMAN
Five-Foot
GRAND
Most beautiful to
the eye—
Most satisfying to
the artistic ear—
T a k e s no more
space than an up-
right.
Sold at a popular
price.
Little wonder that
it makes quick
sales for dealers,
and makes pur-
chasers happy for
a lifetime.
Write for informa-
tion about territory,
t c r in s , e t c . ,
to
| Hardman, Peck & Co. i
Founded 1842
|
Hardman House
I
| 433 Fifth Ave., New York |
| Chicago Office and Wareroom j
§j
M
where a complete stock of the
output can be seen,
|
Republic Building
i§
Corner of Adams and State Sts.