Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
RMEffl
THE
VOL. LXXV. No. 17
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York/ ftct. 21, 1922
Bln
*H£°#g ^ e n t B
:illMlllKl!lKlilKlllttim
The Wisdom of Securing' Ample Stock
• ' • " •
I "I
111
M 1 M i l l II
I I II
I
111.... .....1II.IIIHIHII..I.I.I.I HI lllll.lllllH.HII
K
T
H E predictions made in and out of the trade regarding a satisfactory business revival this Fall have
already begun to prove true in no uncertain manner, and reports from musical instrument factories
throughout the country, particularly those devoted to the manufacture of pianos and talking machines,
reflect a capacity demand and some uncertainty as to how all orders will be rilled in the near future.
Some few months ago, when piano and talking machine dealers were advised earnestly to place advance
orders for goods with a view of enabling manufacturers to make proper provision for meeting Fall and Winter
demands, there were many retailers who did not take the advice seriously and who regarded it simply as an
excuse for stimulating factory activities. Some of these hesitating dealers have already begun to realize their
mistake and actually to worry about taking care of the trade that may be expected to come to them before
the first of the year.
The careful survey made recently of piano manufacturing conditions in the East and Middle West
shows that the majority of the plants are keeping up production to as high a point as possible, not for the
purpose of building up a reserve stock, but to meet orders actually on hand. The chief difficulty in many cases
was found in getting a sufficient number of trained workmen and it is nothing unusual to find a piano manu-
facturer operating his plant as energetically as possible with barely a skeleton of the working force necessary
to take advantage of the full production capacity of the factory.
Just at present there is every prospect of a piano shortage before the holiday season, especially in con-
nection with a number of prominent and popular lines. The dealer who handles a nondescript assortment of
instruments will probably be able to keep his floors fairly well filled, but the retailer who confines himself to
advertised instruments of known value is going to find difficulty in getting a sufficient supply when he needs
them unless he has had the foresight to register his requirements well in advance. Telegraphic orders will
not bring instruments if there are none at the factory or if those on hand are needed to fill orders which were
placed well in advance.
Some time in the future, perhaps, piano merchants will line up with buyers of other commodities and
establish definite buying schedules covering a full season and based upon past performances in the matter of
selling and upon definite prospects. Even the smallest dealer has a fixed minimum to which he can adhere
when making advance requisitions for instruments and then fill in the holes in his line at intervals during the
season as his sales staff disposes of the aforesaid minimum number of instruments and starts to make new
selling records.
There has been, and is, entirely too much gamble in the piano business, with the manufacturer holding
the bag. There are, of course, some retail concerns which are run on a businesslike basis and are able to fore-
cast their requirements to some degree of accuracy, thus permitting of the placing of orders in advance of the
actual coming of the season.
In following this policy these retailers are not simply accommodating the manufacturer—they are pro-
tecting themselves in many instances to the extent of realizing- considerable cash savings in the buying of
pianos between seasons. One retailer recently admitted quite frankly that he added considerable percentage to
his profits by buying pianos in the late Spring or early Summer when there was a plentiful supply on the
factory floor and the manufacturer was inclined to make a concession to move them. This, of course, is not a
general practice, but it exists to a sufficient degree to make it interesting to the close buyer, who figures his
percentage of profit very carefully.
Even at a fixed and regular price it is much better to have a safe supply of pianos on the wareroom
floor or in the storehouse than it is to worry about the arrival of shipments when the available stocks have
been thinned out to the danger point.