NOVEMBER
3, 1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
5
Radio and the Retail Music Dealer
The Rapid Development of the Complete Radio Outfit in This Field Has Led to a Simplification of the
Merchandising Problems Which Make Them Closely Akin to Those Prevailing With the Other Lines
He Handles- Some Precautions to Take in Inaugurating a Radio Department
get this additional "lJlu sic" business for himself
Acco rdin g to tho se who ha ve watc hed th e
ti c ul a r neig hborhood, for the secret oi :;ucers;
o r let it go to a competitor in a nother lin e of
d eve lopm e nt Ot (h e ra dio bu s ine ss c lose ly, the
in rad io ret a ilin g is qui c k tLlrn o vcr and not the
tend e n cy t o offer to th e publi c co mpl e te se ts
keep in g of a co m p le t e lin e o n hand ind din itc·ly.
tr " de. ~\ , ;, ",atin of fact the same problem
prop er ly as~embled and ready for op<:ration is
The id ea is to se ll the se t s w hile th e y a re ne w
o f kee ping up to datr in th e matter of stock
goi n g to mean a subs tanti a l development in th e
f ;IC C ~ h in ' in practically c\cry d epa rtment of his
a nd no t wa it L1ntil th ey have b een SU1H:r , eded
radio business from the retail angle, a nd to pro
busine ss at pre;ent, particularly in the music roll
by an improved model that is li able to affect
and ta lk ing machin e department. ·v\-ith radio,
vide for s uch equipment greatly increascd dis
,h eir d"sirability co n sidera bl y.
a s with an y other lin e of goods, t h e same funda
tr ib uti o n throu g h various type s of <;\ores, par
/\. complete radio oLltfit is not particularl)
ti c ularly music stores.
ior the, lazy man, bu t rather for the type 0 1 in
" '<' ntal idea holds good: the bes t merchant is
nine times out oi t en t h e best buyer.
The past year or so hilS seen almost an en ti re
dividual who does not want to be bother ed
cha n ge in the radio situation in the matter of
experimenting ,,,ith somethin g he doe s' not know
eq uip me nt offered to the public. Wh ere SOllie
anything about and ,vho like s to know what
IN THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH
ti me ago attention was concentra t ed on parts
re sults are goin.c: to be b eior e he s ink < a co upl,
Old Photograph of Some Well-known Piano
w ith the idea of having th e purchaser build hi s
of hundred dollars in an outfit.
ow n r ece iving apparatus th e ce nt e r of inte r es t
There are amat e urs who have spe nt $300 in
Men Shows That Three Decades Have Dealt
Very Kindly With Them
now is upon the complete re ce ivin g unit rep re
e xperimenting with hom e-made sets, who ha ve
se ntin g ex p e rt . kno w led g~ in it s buildin g .
th e n gon e out and bou ght comp lete eq uipm e nt
Coincident w ith the rece nt visit of Walter C.
\ ..... ha t is pa rticularl y int e res tin g is th at the se
assembled for $125, and for th e first ti m e have
H e p pe rl a , president of the Prem ier Grand Piano
comp le te unit< are be in g offered a t price s we ll
sec ur ed sa ti sfacto r y r esu lt s.
O n the other
w ithin th e reac h of th e average bu ye r and h e
hand, there are mor e sk illful wo rk ers who have
Co rp. , to th e plant of th e Vv eave r Piano Co.,
is, th e ref o r e, not fo r ced by th cir co s t to buy
a t a cost of $50 or $60 built rece ivin g se t s of
jJa rt s and a tte mpt to build hi s ow n <; et, ha ndi
\\' id e ran g e, excell e nt se lec ti vit y a nd g reat
power.
cappe d as he is through inexpnience.
The offer of complete sets naturally appea ls
Affiliating With Music Merchants
to merchants who ha\'e he sitated to handle pa .. t <;
It is an int eres tin g fact th a t radio deale rs,
fo r the reason that they were not s ur e what
e nco ura g ed perh aps by Jll a nufactL1rer ~ , ha ve. . 'cen
part s they ought to stock, th e proportionate quan
fit to affiliate with music mer c hant s in a,socia
t oon work, the recent c1cveloplll cnt in Los An
ti~s or the proper manner of u se for th e va rious
units. In fact, more than one nlusie lll e r c hant
.l.,c les, where the Radio Dea le rs ' Assoriat ioll
has turned cold to radio fnr th e simple r eason
Jo ined a, a divi s io n the ~i u s i c Trades' Asso
th a t he endeavored to hand le parts anti , lac kin g
ciation of Southern Ca lif o rni a , being a C;hC III
experience, found the vc ntu re an lJll profi ta ble
I;o inl.
It is a s ig nifi cant fact that 75 per cent. or
o ne.
In Better Position
llior c of all radio programs are built up on
With complete -rece ivin g sets a vai labl e, r eady
ll lus ic and th at for one radio owner w ho prr·
The Weaver Office in 1895
for setting up in the home, the ave ra ge dea le'
fers lectures, m arket reports, etc., there a re nine
York, Pa ., th ere we r e une a rthed several photo
who tune in only to li st e n to mu s ic h\' sonlll
i ~ in a JlJllch better position to h a ndl e th e ra dio
g ra phs taken at th e tim e of Mr. Hepperla's
~rtist, or gro up of artists, Or to enjoy tire
situation intelli ge ntl y and profitably. The ques
co nn ect ion with th e vVeave r Co. many years
s trains of a da nce orche s tra. It is thi s fa ct t ha t
tion of rheost a t s, tr a ns form ers, condensers,
a go, one of wh ic h is reproduced herewith.
coils, etc., does n o t b other hilli. H e s imply in
es tabli shes th e co nn ectio n be t wee n radio and th e
Nfr . H e pperla, accompan ied by Mrs. Hepperla,
mu s ic trad e. Perh,,!)s the c.on n ect io n Illay 11 0 t
~tructs the custom er in t h e matter of e r ect in g
w hil e motorin g t hrou gh Pennsylvania recently,
prove altogether p lea sin g to the d ea ler in mu
the aerial, or, as is becoming more freq uently
\'is it cd th e headq ua rt e r s of the Weaver Piano
sical in str uments, but from a n a n gle of sc li
rhc case, the indoor lo op, and he is pr
Co., in York, 1'a. It was s omewhat in the
protection, if nothing; else, he mu sl give: SO ln e
sure of havin g the set work proper ly. In fact,
nature of a home-co rnin g fo r Mr. Hepperia, for
if it does not work properly th e manufacturer
thou g ht to th e problem.
he wa s a t on e tim e co nne c t ed with the Weaver
In in sta llin g a lin e of complete receiving scts
can be held respon s ible, an d it does not mean
Co. in vario u s c.apac iti es .
t he deal er s hou I d see t o it, firs t, t hat it is
a question of poor assembling' b y the dealer or
In discuss in g old t imes with 'IV. S. Bond,
ofTered by a r espons ibl e m:
his custom e r. Mor eove r, the comp lete set en
pr c<; ide nt, and Walter L. Do nd , treasnrer of
that it meets rea<;onable requirements in Iris
ables the dealer to handle the ma tt e r ju!'t as he
th 'c com pan )" th e present exec utives recalled
territor y,whi ch means th a t they must be able
would handl e th e talkin g lllachine, the band
vas t even ts by showin g a number of photo
instrument or the piano.
to re ceive fro m th e leading s tation< in his v«,ln·
g raph s of th e past. The one reproduced here
Thi s is not held to indicat e tlr at t h e buyin~,
it y, and, t hir d, th a t it represent' th(' I;(\('st
\\itlr \vas take n abo ut 1895 and s hows the ex
of parts is to drop off to a ny g r ea t d eg ree , d eve lopme nt in parts ~nd hook -up.
ec utiv e forc e of th e. company at that time .
for th e re will be for man y yea r s to co rne, per
The latter fa c to r is importa n t, for radio is
Sl andi n g a t the ri g ht is the late M. B. Gibson,
hap s, radio fans who must build their own se t s
~ t i ll a my s t e r y ev e n to tho se w ho ha ve b een
at that time preside nt o f the compan y, and
to their own sa ti siact ion a nd who a re co ntin
e nga g ed in the line for yea rs. As on e well-
'ea t ed at th" des k in the fore g round is W. S .
l1ally experimentin g . Hut , for th e man who
known ' maker put it : "SonIc of our bes t r es ult s
Ilo nd, th e pr es e nt chief executive. Walt e r C.
has kept away fr om radio becau s e h e did no t
ha ve b ee n obtaine d w h en eq'uipment wa s assem
[-I e pperla is the ge ntleman w ith his hair parted
have sufficient understanding of the s ubj ec t or
hied on a basis that was alto g et her wrong and
ill th e middle s ta nd ing in t he rear of th e office
mechanical skill to permit him to do his own
;1gainst precedent , a nd th e n operated mo s t sat is
t o th e left at an acco untant 's d es k.
building, th e comp le t e se t so lv es th e problem.
factorily."
Tn oth e r word s, it opens a n ew field hercto
The necessity of keepinp- in stock outfits th a t
RETURNS FROM PACIFIC COAST
fore not largely developed.
are up to date means close attention to keeping
After an abs e nce of nine weeks to the day,
This is not to be taken to m ean that because
the equipm en t moving into the home. When a
Ed. M ahoney, trave lin g repre sentative for Kran
complete r eceiv in g se ts with or without amplifi
set is paid for a nd installed the u<;er is not
ich & Bach, New York, returned to the fa c'
(al ie n' u nit s arc being offered to th e trade tire
lTlu c h worried over the newest refinements, but
la s t we ek fr om a n ex Pen sive trip to th
dealer 's Jlr ob l L1rt~ h a \ ~ trt-e-il m .!)e d entirely.
when h e is doing his buying he wants eC[uip-
Co
There are go od se ts and bad se t s,~ouT~nt with tho<;\: -', lin(;lllents and is not takin g
ti c over general ' b us ines s conditi ~ s
will get distant stat ions , and are selective to a
anything else. This is the reason for kerpinj:;
and lo wer California and is fi.rm i.r. the
high de g r ee; outfits th a t hav e limited ran ge and,
s tocks stric tl y up to da te and moving radi o
that a seas 9 n of general prosperi ty is
bein g built on a sin g le circuit principle , allow
goo ds a s rapidly as possible to avoid a d ead
e nj oy ed.
for interfe rence th a t is a nnoy in g to and often
s tock.
"Co tt o n growe rs in the South are cashing in
This fr a nk presentation o f so me o f the factors
di sgusts th e ama t eur ope rator.
o n one of the lar ges t crops in history," said
to be watc h ed in the o peration of the r ad io
Selecting the Line
Mr. Ma ho ney, "a nd eve r yt hin g else is thri\:,ing
depa rtlll en t in th e IIlLl Sic s to re should not b.:
In the select ion of a lin e of r adi o se t s th e
in proportion in th.is region. With r eba rd to
t aken as an effo rt t o di <;co ura ge the. avera ge
dealer n eeds to b e as care ful as he would be in
dealer from in sta llin g s u ch a departm r nt , radio .our own busine ss, th ings could not be b~tte r .
decidin g on a n ew line of pianos or t alkin g
Stocks are- turniilg on goo d health y term s 1n9
h aving reached a point w h e re it re s t s "" ith th e
machine s. He must stock the sort of equip
w e are mee tin g the g rowin g de mand promptl!.'.'
"verage music merchant whether he is goi n g t o
ment that is going to sell best in hi s own par-