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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
MARCH 2, 1918
WASHINGTON RETAILERS AFTER "USED" PIANO BUSINESS
9
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Several Houses Take Advice From H. G. Selfridge, of London, and Plan to Keep Business Going
With Second-Hand Instruments During the Present Unusual Situation
WASHINGTON, D. C, February 26.—Piano mer-
chants at the national capital have been seized
this past week with a new idea in wartime piano
merchandising policy. Or, more properly, might
it be said that circumstances have suddenly
shoved to the fore an idea that most of them
have had in the back of their heads for some
weeks past. The new twist of the business sys-
tem that lias gripped hard almost every one of
the Washington dealers counsels the wisdom of
a concentration on used instruments. Harry
Gordon Selfridge, the energetic owner of the
Americanized department store in London, Eng-
land, is responsible for bringing this idea, in its
more intensive form, to Washington.
The original plan was that the former exec-
utive of Marshall Field & Co., who has made
London sit up and take notice, would, on his
present flying trip to America, make no public
addresses outside of New York. However, com-
mercial organizations in Washington, in which
the local piano men are very active, finally in-
duced Mr. Selfridge to make an address at the
New Willard Hotel at the capital. The visitor
repaid the piano contingent by elaborating on
the piano proposition in his Washington speech
to an extent not equalled in any of his other ad-
dresses or interviews.
In graphic terms this American merchant, who
las made such a conspicuous success in Lon-
don, told how when, owing to the curtailment
of the manufacture of less essentials, there were
no longer any new pianos to be had in Eng-
land, the trade, instead of indulging in vain re-
pin ings, turned to the merchandising of used
instruments. Not only did the used instruments,
when thoroughly overhauled, satisfy the critical
tastes of buyers who had intended to purchase
new instruments, but the prices at which the
second-hand instruments could be offered re-
cruited a whole host of new prospects from the
class of industrial workers who are enjoying
war prosperity, thanks to the high wages that
are being paid in the munitions factories and
other plants engaged on war work. Mr. Sel-
fridge cited the fact that many families whose
income in normal times never exceeded 25 shill-
ings a week, too small to permit of dreams of
oven a second-hand piano, have now been trans-
lated to a position where the family income is
from 3 to 5 pounds sterling per week and one
of the first effects of this comparative affluence
in the average case is found in the purchase of
a used piano.
The Selfridge disclosure of the possibilities of
used pianos as a means of temporarily satis-
fying well-to-do customers and at the same time
"nailing" new prospects, clinched most of the
Washington piano merchants on a proposition
to which they have been gradually warming for
some weeks .past. Perhaps it is because the
Washington piano men are closer than some of
their brethren to what is going on behind the
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 Piano Co., Inc.
FACTORY
YORK, PA
Established
1870
scenes at the capital, but ever since the first of
the year the conviction has been growing with
them that something must be done to keep the
turnover of the retail piano business up to nor-
mal. The Selfridge recital settled the case in
favor of a pinning of larger faith to the trade
in used instruments, coming as this speech did
riyht at a time when it is almost impossible to
get shipments of new pianos through from the
factories.
Not only have the Washington dealers gone
into high speed in selling used instruments, but
they are so much in earnest on this proposition
that they are making extraordinary efforts to un-
earth used instruments not merely as a basis of
exchange but for outright purchase. The F. G.
Smith P.ano Co., whose warerooms have been
swept clean of rental instruments by the unusual
demand of the past six months is conducting a
"wanted—upright pianos" campaign.
Arthur Jordan Piano Co. is making hay with
used instruments, having accumulated a num-
ber of these instruments as a result of a drive
on new small grands and player grands
which brought in a number of second-hand
pianos in exchange from exclusive Washing-
ton homes. In this campaign to place used in-
struments, as in his promotion, work on new
instruments. Manager Homer L. Kitt is featur-
ing those makes of instruments for which he
holds the agency, but other makes are receiving
a proportionate measure of attention.
An innovation for Washington in the current
specialization is found in the advertising policy
of Hecht & Co. Most of the Washington mer-
chants in the quest for prospects for used instru-
ments make use, as in their other merchandis-
ing activitieSj of display space in the newspapers,
but Hecht & Co. are concentrating on the classi-
fied columns—a rather shrewd move, be it con-
fessed, because the present shortage of labor is
impelling numbers of people who ordinarily pay
little attention to the "liners" to scan this ad-
vertising more or less closely. The Hecht
scheme is to devote a separate advertisement in
the "Classified" to each individual used instru-
ment. This focusing of a prospect's attention
on one offer at a time is proving most effective.
OPENS NEW WAREROOMS IN TORONTO
Chas. Ruse, Formerly With Gerhard Heintzman,
Enters Retail Field in That City
TORONTO, ONT., February 22.—Charles Ruse, for
the past twenty years identified with the sale of
Gerhard Heintzman pianos, and more recently
sales manager of the Gerhard Heintzman, Ltd.,
wholesale department, has resigned from that
firm to open up in retail in Toronto.
Yesterday was Mr. Ruse's opening day, the
carpenters and decorators having completed
their work of remodeling the store taken by
him at 772 Yonge street.
PIANO SALESMAN CRUSHED TO DEATH
S. H. Gibson, a salesman for the Victrola and
piano departments of the Root Drygoods Co.,
Terre Haute, Ind., was killed recently while at
work in the store, by being caught between the
elevator and the floor. His neck was broken
and he died instantly. Mr. Gibson was about
forty-five years old.
Victrola XIV, $165
Mahogany or oak
Other Styles $20 to $400
Victor
Supremacy
The supremacy of the
Victrola marks it as the
greatest of all musical
instruments.
And with genuine
Victrolas from $20 to
$400, possibilities are
unlimited for every Vic-
tor retailer.
Victor Talking Machine Co.
Camden, N. J., U.S.A.
Berliner Gramophone Co.. Montreal,
Canadian Wholesalers
" V i c t r o l a " i, the Registered Trade-mark of
the Victor Talking Machine Company designating
the products of this Company only.
W a r n i n g : The use of the word Victrola
upon or in the promotion or sale of any other
Talking Machine or Phonograph products is mis-
leading and illegal.
I m p o r t a n t N o t i c e . Victor Records and
Victor Machine* are scientifically co-ordinated
and synchronized in the processes of manufacture,
and their use, one with the other, is absolutely
essential to a perfect reproduction.
STEINWAY IS THE OFFICIAL PIANO
PITTSBURGH, PA., February 25.—A Steinway
piano, furnished by the C. C. Mellor Co., was
used by Mme. Sturkow-Ryder, the noted pianist,
in her recent recital in this city in the Union
Arcade Auditorium, under the auspices of the
Tuesday Musical Club. The Steinway has been
adopted by the Tuesday Musical Club as its
official instrument.
"HIS MASTER'S VOICE'