Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
flUJIC TRADE
VOL. LXXVII1. No. 10 Published Every Satirday. Edward Lymao Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y.
Mar. 8, 1924
Bln
*l%£r#Z
92.00 Per
Cents
Year
£<|^!IIKIIIKIIi™
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Distribution Problems Before the Piano Industry
iisaitsfiimixiiiaciii^^
I
T is the consensus of opinion of those who have kept in close touch with developments in the piano in-
dustry that the outstanding problem at the present time is one of distribution, and that in solving this
problem, even in part, the direct path is open for cutting down overhead in retail music stores that is
admittedly too high even on an average.
The answer to this distribution problem, which must of necessity carry with it some definite plan for in-
creasing turnover and consequently production, does not lie wholly in stronger selling work, although more
energetic selling naturally has a direct bearing. The question goes beyond that point. It has to do with solv-
ing a system of markup that will enable the dealer to make a fair profit, possibly larger than the 10 per cent
considered a fair net return to-day. It also has to do with an adjustment of piano lines that will enable the
retailer to take care of the demands of various types of prospects and still have the instruments in the lines so
classed that they will not conflict one with another. The distribution question as it concerns low-priced in-
struments of various types is being met with considerable success in certain quarters through widespread adver-
tising based chiefly on the price appeal.
This, however, has been carried on by larger concerns capable of buying for cash and in quantities and
selling on a quantity basis with the turnover as the chief factor. The smaller dealers who have attempted the
same thing have not always succeeded because they can not dispose of sufficient instruments on a small profit
margin to make the venture worth while.
The expensive instruments of the reproducing type naturally cannot be considered from the quantity
standpoint. So far as supplies are available, these instruments are finding close to a capacity market, although
probable increases in production will put these lines on a basis where a wider distribution among a selected
class of customers may become a matter for consideration.
The question, therefore, hinges on a more rapid turnover of the great mass of instruments found
between the very cheap and the very expensive. There is a tremendous market known to exist for such
medium-grade instruments but which apparently is not producing the proper proportion of sales to be expected
from it. The apostle of the cheap piano is so busy figuring on quantity turnover that he does not feel free to
give the time necessary to disposing of a smaller quantity of higher-priced instruments, while the man who
features the high-class reproducer falls for the lure of the higher profit per instrument and gets in the habit
of figuring on a unit basis.
Study of the situation has developed to a point where a number of dealers have seen the light and
have developed small branch store feeders for their main establishment, carrying line's calculated to appeal to
special types of prospects. Through this means the prospective purchaser of a medium-grade instrument, whose
$1,000 will not buy a high-priced reproducing grand and he feels that he wants something better than the cheap
player, can have placed before him the type of instrument which gives him the proper value for his money.
It has been found that the display of a reproducing piano at $3,000 or more steers him away from the
one type of store, while the display of a player with a lot of free accessories at $350 or so keeps him away from
the other type. When he can find a place where his thousand dollars commands both respect and value he is
willing to buy.
The establishment of "feeders" lies largely in the province of the big city dealer, but the retailer in the
smaller town can do much by thinning out his line and carrying an assortment of instruments far enough apart
to enable him to appeal acceptably to various tastes and pocketbooks.
One dealer recently admitted carrying two lines of grands with only a $10 price division. Another at
the present time is trying to feature three lines that come within the $100 margin. Such a situation develops
confusion rather than distribution, and is one of the angles that must be considered in this problem.