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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
MAY 18, 1918
NORMAL CONDITIONS PREVAIL IN TWIN CITY PIANO TRADE
Business Is in Excess of That of Last Year, and Piano Men Hope for Increasing Sales—Met-
ropolitan Co. Rounds Out Thirty-ninth Year—Suburban Trade a Factor—Other News
MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL, MINN., May 13.—
Closing its thirty-ninth year with the 31st of
May the Metropolitan Music Co., Minneapolis,
last week launched its annual pre-inventory
sale. While not the first piano dealers in Min-
neapolis, the house is by far the oldest in the
city in point of continuous existence. It has
specialized in high-grade instruments both-as
to pianos and small goods and has established
an enviable reputation in its territory. The sale
is for the purpose of clearing out all shopworn
goods as well as an accumulation of "trade-ins"
and is advertised as a "Real Opportunity."
Dyer & Bro., the parent house, undoubtedly will
be in line with the customary pre-inventory sale.
It has been maintained continuously since 1870,
and for the New West must be recognized as an
old institution.
A. L- Owen, general manager for the P. A.
Starck Piano Co., came up from Chicago last
week to look over the company's retail stores in
St. Paul and Minneapolis. He complimented
Managers Krossin and Shoquist on their suc-
cess; telling the local managers that it might
be necessary to curtail their supply of pianos
somewhat, as the factory was experiencing some
difficulty in obtaining material as it was needed,
and that the labor is more or less uncertain.
Colonel Heaton, who boosts for Kohler &
Campbell, Inc., and also for allied and subsidiary
interests, was the sole representative of the
travel section of the trade to visit the Twin
Cities last week.
He probably found things
about as depicted by The Review correspondent.
Without repeating ad nauseam, it may be well
to say that the dealers in the Twin Cities are
not having the business that they had expected
and to which they think they rightly are en-
titled. Sales are being made right along, it
should be understood, but the color or atmos-
phere about the houses is dull and lifeless.
It also should not be overlooked that the
monthly totals generally are in excess of what
they were a year ago, but the comparison is
not a significant one, for a year ago the Twin
Cities were in the "dumps," quite completely.
One of the largest houses in the Twin Cities on
comparing its trial balances for April, 1917 and
1918, found the latter's income figures were more
CHARACTER
'Admirable Quality; Acknowledged Reputation"
—(Standard Dictionary)
PIANOS
Manufactured by
Smith, Barnes
= and
Strohber Co.
have for 33 years
justified their right
to be called
Pianos of Character
FACTORIES
North Milwaukee, Wis.
Chicago 111.
than 40 per cent, higher. The increase, however,
was not represented by piano sales.
Probably the piano men will be compelled to
await the new crop year, beginning September
1, before experiencing the local retail activity
they have so long expected.
Dyer & Bro. announce the installation of a
pipe organ sold for $5,500 at Mason City, la.,
and the arrival in Minneapolis of another organ
worth $2,650 for the Forest Heights Congre-
gational Church.
Foster & Waldo, while not entirely dissatis-
fied with their business, state that it will not
interfere with their customary attendance upon
the big convention and both will be in New
York with the other fellows in June.
William S. Collins, chief of the Cable Piano
Co.'s affairs, is back from his periodic trip to
Ashland. The company's store at this place is
showing excellent results, in comparison with
former years.
Rural Minnesota is a much better piano buyer
than urban Minnesota, a phenomenon which has
been noted in this column with varying changes
since the holidays.
The Holland Piano Mfg. Co. and Raudenbush
& Sons, who make pianos for the wholesale
trade, find that their best patrons are in the
country.
Agriculturally the Northwest is in as fine a
situation as it ever has been. Weather condi-
tions for grain are almost ideal, and the acreage
in seed is the greatest that the Northwest ever
has known. The big days are coming.
VOSE SERVICE APPRECIATED
Marcellus Roper Writes Letter of Thanks for
Active Co-operation and Support Given His
Concern by the Vose & Sons Piano Co.
The great piano manufacturing concerns have
always been characterized by the service they
have given their dealers. Among those houses
the old-established firm of Vose & Sons has
long been known throughout the trade for the
active co-operation it has always accorded to
the retail trade, and the support in every possible
way that Vose dealers knew was theirs without
the asking. An illustration of the value of this
policy is shown in the following letter, written
to the Vose & Sons Piano Co. by Marcellus
Roper, a prominent dealer of Worcester, Mass.,
in which Mr. Roper says:
"We beg to acknowledge receipt of your very
kind letter of the 10th instant. To tell you that
we appreciate your kindness in this matter does
not half express it.
"We feel that you have been generous with
us, but it is perfectly in accord with the treat-
ment we have received from you ever since we
have had the pleasure of doing business with
you. The loyalty and the support that have al-
ways been given us by Vose & Sons have been
of the greatest possible assistance to me in mak-
ing our business what it is to-day, and I want
you to know that we shall not forget your kind-
ness.
"I take this opportunity to again express to
you our sincere thanks and appreciation for
your goodness and for all that you have done
for us. With kindest regards and all good
wishes, I remain, yours sincerely,
"(Signed) MARCELLUS ROPER."
That the Vose concern in turn appreciates a
frank expression of thanks such as the above
is shown by the fact that a portion of Mr.
Roper's letter has been taken as copy for a
page advertisement of the Vose & Sons Piano
Co., which ad appears on the cover of this issue
of The Review.
OFFICE
1872 Clybourn Avenue
Chicago, HI.
Sam Brown, former piano dealer of Frank-
fort, Ky., passed away last week at Burnside,
Ky.
SPECIALIZATION
T is not the "Jack
of All Trades"
but rather the
man who concentrates
his energies to the
perfect production of
his product and to its
continual betterment
that is in the ascend-
ency.
Our endeavors are
concentrated in the
production of a perfect
piano plate. We care-
fully select only the
best grade of vanad-
ium pig iron. Our
workmen are not only
mechanics, they are
skilled piano plate
makers. No plate
leaves our plant without
being thoroughly inspected
and tested. We claim to
be plate specialists and the
results of our endeavors
are seen in
Matawan Steel
& Iron Works
President
Matawan,
New Jersey