Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
J1UJIC TIRADE
VOL.
LXXIII. No. 17
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman BUI, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York.
Oct. 22, 1921
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Broadening
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USIC dealers everywhere are rapidly becoming converts to the general music store idea—that is, they
are realizing the wisdom of having for sale not only pianos and talking machines, as has been the
rule in the past, but also musical merchandise, sheet music and musical accessories generally, in order
that their store may be the actual headquarters for everything in music, be it a harmonica or a.
grand piano. The spread of the general music store idea has been due in large measure to general business
and trade conditions. While the musical merchandise department has been somewhat of a factor in retail
trade for a long time, it is noteworthy that during the past two or three years the general demand for various
types of small musical instruments and accessories has increased tremendously, due to a number of causes
which range from the popularity of the jazz band furnishing dance music to the broader appreciation of music
which has resulted from the countrywide campaign for the advancement of music.
It is but natural that this demand for the smaller musical instruments should make a strong impression
upon those dealers who were unable to transact a maximum amount of piano and talking machine business due
to scarcity of supplies and who saw in the introduction of the musical merchandise department an opportunity
for getting their share of the business being done in small instruments.
Beyond their profit-building possibilities, the musical merchandise and sheet music departments have
also made an appeal to a great many piano and talking machine dealers from the fact that among those who
visit a certain store more or less frequently in order to purchase small musical instruments and sheet music
there are likely to be found a goodly number of live prospects for piano and talking machine sales—people who
have given direct indication of their love of, and appreciation for, music.
It will be interesting to watch the development of this general music store idea and its effect upon the
music industry during future years. It is certain that the proprietor of a general music store, to which the
customer naturally goes for everything desired in the way of music, is in a position to build up and hold a far
greater volume of trade than is the dealer who confines himself to one line of musical instruments.
The argument has been used frequently by piano men that, while talking machines might fit into the
straight piano store and could be handled to a great degree by the same staff that sold pianos, musical mer-
chandise and sheet music require separate departments and specially trained help to insure success. It fre-
quently happens, too, that the piano man who is accustomed to closing sales running into several hundred dol-
lars each does not fully appreciate the logic of using his own or his salesmen's time to dispose of a ten-dollar
ukulele or a twenty-five cent package of strings. The point lost sight of is that the smaller transactions are
for cash, the turnover under proper management is rapid and profitable, and that these smaller sales bring
the dealer into direct touch with piano prospects who might have remained undiscovered indefinitely or been
sold by a competitor were it not for this means of association. Even if a sound and well-developed prospect
list was the sole result of carrying general musical merchandise the effort would be worth while.
There are many large piano houses in the country which manage to do a surprising amount of straight
piano business and keep their prospect lists filled with first-class people without even thinking of handling
allied lines, but to the great majority the question of securing the proper public recognition for the store is a
vital one.
If the average purchaser of musical goods, whether pianos or mandolin picks, can be made to feel that
he can get anything he wants in the musical line in one particular store, and can be brought to regard that store
as~a musical center, then the particular dealer so situated and so favored is in a position to build up a permanent
and profitable patronage, whereas a specialist must depend upon the demand for his one particular line.
The general music store may offer its problems to the average dealer, but when proper attention has
been given to the proposition these problems are offset by real and potential advantages.