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FEBRUARY 16, 1924
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
Meeting the "Big Store" Competition
Second Article of a Series Written as the Result of a Study of Retail Music Trade Conditions in the Outlying
Districts of Chicago—The Neighborhood Store's Bugaboo—The Man Jealous of His Reputation
—Meeting the "Old Piano" Argument—The Adaptation Method
I
N a previous article regarding the problems
confronting the neighborhood stores in a
large city, it was stated that one of the chief
difficulties was the competition of the big, cen-
trally located music store or department store
handling musical instruments. This matter was
not gone into to any extent, the only phase of
it which was treated being the use of display
space in the large city dailies from which the
neighborhood store is debarred on account of
the expense and the limited territory covered.
It is the purpose of the present article to
treat of some of the other phases of large store
competition and of the manner in which it can
be met.
The man without a previous underlying
knowledge of conditions is liable to b'e dum-
founded at the answers given him when he asks
neighborhood merchants the question: "What
are the competitive problems you have to
meet?" Some of the statements made are so
queer one is inclined to check up by asking
dealer after dealer before he becomes convinced
of their verity.
The Problem of "Front"
According to a number of the Chicago outly-
ing dealers interviewed, one of their worst
troubles is the man who insists on going down-
town to buy a piano or talking machine because
he does not want to buy it "on time" in his
own neighborhood, although he knows he can
get just as low a price and just as advantageous
terms in his own neighborhood. This man is
the man who likes to put on a "front" in his
own locality and does not want to admit that
he has not the cash in hand to buy outright. So
he lets his neighborhood dealer suffer and goes
downtown to buy his instrument.
Tn the course, of The Review representa-
tive's rambles and after he had heard about this
phase of the neighborhood dealer's woe, he vis-
ited the Petersons, father and son, who con-
duct Peterson's Milford Music Shop on Mil-
waukee and Crawford avenues. The younger
Mr. Peterson was ready to talk about the mat-
ter. "Yes, I know that bird," he said, "know
him to a frazzle, but the trouble is you can't
always recognize him. He does not always wear
an identifying mark. Comes in, examines your
stock, seems satisfied with a certain piano ov
talking machine, wanders out, telling you he
will call again. Then after a while you hear
from one source or another that he has gone
downtown and bought his instrument. When
you can find out what the trouble is, what is
going on in his mind, it's easy enough—at least,
in my experience I have found it so—to over-
come his objection. If I suspect that I am
dealing with a man of the type you refer to I
explain as tactfully as I can that we sell in-
struments in two ways. We sell them for cash
and we sell them on adequate monthly pay-
ments. We tell him that we like cash, but with
a significant and kindly smile that there are
some people whose credit is just as good as
their cash. I won one of these chaps over not so
long ago by telling him, and it was an actual
instance, that a dealer in another line in my
locality had bought a piano from me on time.
Now, I said that man had money to pay cash
and" I knew it, but the fact was he could use
the money in his business. Now, I know how
that is. A dealer may be doing a nice, com-
fortable business but he likes to feel that he has
a reserve to meet any emergency and when he
wants something for his home that runs into
money it is a certain advantage for him to buy
it on instalments. It is no reflection on any-
body. The prospective purchaser may be a for-
ward-looking chap and want to take the advan-
tage of the many real, estate opportunities that
arise in a growing district. Consequently a man
may have oodles of money, but it's tied up in
real estate or other investments. It is not fluid
—easily realized on. There is no earthly sense
fof a man of that kind to deny himself the
things he wants and can easily afford to have."
Unethical Competition
There are certain other problems which con-
front the neighborhood dealer which are still
harder to solve, and especially there are cer-
tain arguments hard to meet. Chief among
these is the argument which many of the neigh-
borhood stores say some of the downtown
stores use against them, namely, that the outly-
ing store puts it over on the customer often by
selling him a used piano for a new one; that
he should buy of a store with big capital that
can buy at advantage and can offer its cus-
tomers nice new instruments. Without going
into the merits of the case at all, or commenting
on the truth of the statement, it may be said
that the outside dealer believes that this kind
of thing is done to him. The way he meets it
is this: He points to the advertisements in the
dailies of a minority of "loop" stores who adver-
tise pianos for nothing down and nothing a
month, to use the neighborhood store man's
paraphrase, or on the Kathleen Mavourneen
system—"it may be for years and it may be for-
ever," our English brother's characterization.
They say that these stores, on account of their
big rents and otherwise heavy overhead, put
their hopes on a large volume of business, so
they push out their instruments without due
credit restrictions or investigation and that
many of these instruments come back and are
finished up and sold as new.
Now, the neighborhood merchant, according
to his own representation, is not compelled to
resort to such methods. In the first place, he
is not compelled to carry large stocks. Natu-
rally, the man who handles instruments made in
Chicago, or of which wholesale stocks are car-
ried in Chicago, can present this argument with
a great deal of force. He says that he does
not have to carry much more than a sample
line, because he can replace instruments im-
mediately as soon as they move off his floor.
More than this, he states that he has to be
careful with his credits—he has not the capital
to tie up money on hazards. He knows or can
easily learn all about the people to whom he
sells—can find out whether they own their own
home, how they pay their bills and all that.
And he is so near the most of them that he
can keep his eye on them.
Consequently the proportion of repossessions
to his total amount of sales is very small. That's
for that.
The statements as to argument and counter-
argument are given just as they have been heard
from the mouths of the dealers.
Proper Store Display
In the previous article the experience of a
west side dealer was given in which this man
found that when he spent a reasonable amount
of money on altering his store and brightening
up his surroundings people no longer ques-
tioned the newness of his instruments. They
seem new in bright surroundings when with all
their beauty of design and finish they look old
and shabby in a dingy environment.
The brightness of the store and the attractive-
ness of the windows gave passers-by the idea
that things were moving, and that the dealer
did not keep instruments in his store until they
got worn.
It would be a subject for another article to
show how the dealer in an outlying district can
have as attractive if not as large window dis-
plays as the downtown stores. It can be stated
positively as the result of years of contact with
windows and with window-trimmers that there
is not an effect producible at large expense
in a large window that cannot be simulated to
a great degree at least by the ingenious man
who studies the matter of producing these ef-
fects with simpler and less expensive materials.
The exclusive dealers in all lines out on Wil-
son avenue are blessing William H. Grosvenor.
As has been told recently in this paper, he has
moved to new quarters on Wilson and Broad-
way, and one of the features of his new store
is an attractively furnished mezzanine waiting
room. Such a thing is not common in the out-
lying districts except, perhaps, in a few of the
larger department stores, but the waiting room
is prevalent downtown. The women in that
locality do not go downtown as much as they
used to because they have a place where they
can meet their friends and chat around and
run around and trade a little and run back and
sit and listen to some music, and they are al-
ways welcome.
Mr. Grosvenor counts that waiting room as
the best thing he has done. He is unquestion-
ably right. It isn't as big a waiting room as
you will find in the big downtown stores, but
what there is of it is excellent and is being well
patronized.
Boiled down, the neighborhood store can
compete with the downtown store. But—it re-
quires ingenuity and initiative in the matter of
advertising, a legitimate marshaling of legiti-
mate arguments in favor of buying at home; a
nice discrimination as to the amount of fixed
overhead the locality will bear; a neat bright
store with goods displayed to the best possible
advantage, and not the reproduction necessarily,
but the adaptation of the legitimate methods
and equipment of the big store.
Exploits Milton Reproducer
PORTLAND, ORE., February 9.—The Wiley B.
Allen Co. last week received a shipment of
Milton Welte-Mignon (Licensee) grand pianos,
which it has recently added to the line of in-
struments it carries. The instruments were fea-
tures in its show window and occupied a promi-
nent place on the store's main floor. The com-
pany conducted an extensive advertisement
campaign on the instrument, so that a great
amount of interest was stirred up among many
new customers.
Kaiper Sees 1924 Demand
CINCINNATI, O., February 9.—E. I. Kaiper, presi-
dent of the Vocalstyle Music Co., can see
nothing ahead but prosperity and big player
roll sales in the twelve months to come. "The
new year thus far has been very satisfactory.
To Occupy New Store
BKI.LEKONTE, PA., February 11.—The Harter
Music Store is temporarily sharing space with
C. M. Parish in the latter's drug store. As
soon as the new Parish Building is completed,
which will probably be early in April, the Harter
concern will have the store exclusively.