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THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc
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anil
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
allll
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning,
IW>nartll1Pnt« regulating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos
U e p d l UllClIla a r e d e a l t w i t h ) w \\\ De found in another section of
this paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concern-
ing which will be cheerfully given upon request.
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Vol. LXVII
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 2, 1918
No. 18
EDITORIAL=
ESPITE the epidemic of influenza which has seriously in-
D
terfered with business in practically every section of the
country there has been stronger evidence during the past week
of better retail conditions in all departments of the industry with
an increasing demand for high-grade instruments. The changed
international situation has had a clearly discernible influence on
business sentiment. It is generally felt that while the war may
last quite a while, yet the end is in sight, and consequently in
both manufacturing and retailing departments of the industry
a feeling of optimism prevails.
The most significant and pleasing development in the retail
field is the fact that dealers are confining their sales, as nearly
as they possibly can, to a cash basis. They are selling on shorter
time and demanding larger first payments, with the result that
there is a quicker turnover of money. This is a policy to be
commended. It enables dealers to meet their obligations to
manufacturers more satisfactorily and places the entire monetary
condition of the industry on a better and a sounder basis.
Discussing the general condition of trade Bradstreet's in its
latest report says : "The central fact is that merchants, especially
those in the East, seem more content to trade in accordance with
current requirements and to let developing events shape their
future course. But the great new wealth-producing sections of
the West, which is in a class by itself, seem to move along un-
disturbed by rumors of peace, and in consequence jobbers in
that zone are doing more business than at this time last year.
Retail trade in volume is about abreast of that going in 1917,
value of turnover being greater, and many houses are favored
with a measurably larger volume of business."
HE advice offered to the members of the New York Piano
T
Merchants' Association recently by Kevie Jaffe, the attorney,
to solve the problem of slow collections and undesirable accounts
by placing the responsibility for them on the salesman, presents
an opportunity for considerable earnest thought, particularly in
REVIEW
NOVEMBER 2, 1918
view of the fact that Mr. Jaffe has worked the plan out satisfac-
torily in the Knabe warerooms in New York.
It is true that a great many piano stores and departments
have well-organized credit offices, but to many salesmen the
credit manager is regarded, often unjustly, as representing a
stumbling block in the closing of numerous sales. On the other
hand the other salesmen regard the credit office as a buffer and
feel that once a sale has been endorsed by that office the sales-
man's responsibility ends.
With the salesman assuming the full responsibility for the
collection of the account, or at least collections to a point where
the customer has a substantial equity in the instrument, he is
more likely to give closer attention to the type of people to
whom he sells, investigate their financial responsibilities more
carefully, and hold out for terms that will clean the account up
rapidly and take the burden off his shoulders.
At that it is not a one-sided proposition by any means,-for
when the salesman assumes the responsibility for the collection
of the account he likewise protects his own interests, for he will
keep in close touch with his customers, and save many a sale
that might be lost, and the instrument repossessed, through un-
sympathetic handling by the credit department without a sales
interest at stake. Fewer repossessions mean more money for
the salesman—consequently more money for the house. Cer-
tainly Mr. Jaffe's plan has many merits to recommend it to the
average piano merchant at this time.
E. CON WAY, president of the Hallet & Davis Piano
E ARL
Co., is recognized as one of the most astute and far-seeing
men of the trade, who can point to his successful record to prove
that his ideas have value. When Mr. Conway, therefore, offers
a word of advice to piano merchants, the advice is worthy of,
serious attention. Just now Mr. Conway is urging the dealers 1
to plan for the future, and to put their houses in order for the
time that will follow the ending of the war. His contention is
that there, is too much overdue paper being carried by dealers at
the present time, paper that is far from representing a liquid
asset, and that the dealer cannot be any too prompt in cleaning
up this paper by the repossession route if less drastic methods,
do not suffice. lie also urges that dealers turn their stocks into
cash as quickly as possible.
Cash in hand is the greatest asset any piano merchant
can have just now, for it is likely to mean the life of his business.
It costs money to carry paper, and likewise costs money to carry
stock on the floors. The wareroom stock and the instruments;
upon which payments are slow should be gathered together
and disposed of, not for long time paper, but for cash or terms
that approximate cash. It costs money td carry stock whether
in the store or in the customer's home, and the question of rapid
turnover was never so important as right now. Mr. Conway's
views, which appeared in The Review last week, are sound to
the core, and can be taken as representing the views of other
thinking men of the trade.
HE warranty certificate and card of instruction prepared by
T
W. F. McClellan, secretary and treasurer of the National
Association of Piano Tuners, and adopted by that organization,
with the suggestion that all manufacturers attach the card to
all instruments shipped, is worthy of most careful consideration.
Much trouble in the past has been occasioned by the fact
that pianos and players worth several hundred dollars have been
placed in customers' houses without the least advice being of-
fered to the customer as to their proper care. To tell the cus-
tomer that a piano or player must be protected and taken care
of in certain ways, if it is to preserve its qualities, does not argue
against the structural quality of the instrument, as is some-
times assumed, but simply puts the customer on guard and en-
ables him through proper precautions to avoid many of the
ordinary troubles that sometimes develop into serious complaints.
If the instructions regarding tuning, regulating, and the pro-
tection of the instrument from various climatic conditions are
plainly presented on a card attached to the piano or player, the
trade as a whole is going to benefit. A piano kept in good con-
dition is not only an advertisement for that particular make, but
maintains interest in pianos generally, and interest means sales.