Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
DKC-KMHKK 27,
1924
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
The Music Merchant's Problem of
Stocking in His Radio Department
Carrying the Line of Receivers Which in Price* Range Appeals Most to His Customers—The
Necessity of Carrying Instruments Backed by Name Value and Pestige
I T would appear that in stocking the radio
department music merchants, while carrying
a good line of merchandise, have not let their
common sense be overwhelmed by the popu-
larity of certain types of merchandise in various
districts, but have analyzed the demands of
clients and thus determined the types of re-
ceivers that will be carried in their stores.
It is quite evident that from the radio angle
this is a new phase of the business, as the mer-
chants have found to their own satisfaction that
radio is as much of a price seller as any other
merchandise that they carry. This does not
mean that merchants located in cheaper sections
will not have any call at all for the higher-
priced merchandise, but it does mean that mer-
chants located in such sections should give first
consideration to the class of people who are
their clients and that they should be able to
take care of them. The radio field is big enough
to give the merchant his selection of any num-
ber of good receivers which he may place on
his floor and which will give the maximum of
satisfaction with a minimum of trouble. There
is no need and there is no excuse for a merchant
carrying cheap merchandise which depends
upon its price as the attraction and has no.
value as a radio set. This only leads to trouble
in the long run.
This was brought out recently by the radio
manager of Kantor Bros., located off Flatbush
avenue, Brooklyn, in a section which caters
to both the poorer classes as well as to the
better element. This store had quite some trou-
ble at the beginning of last season because it
drew two classes of patrons. Strange to say, it
had never noted this division in the musical
instrument sales, but this can be attributed to
the fact that such merchandise is of a fairly
standard price throughout the country. How-
ever, when at the beginning of this year the
radio department laid in a good supply of the
higher priced sets, paying little attention to
those selling at a price attractive to the aver-
age purse of the poorer class, the store began
to have numerous inquiries for cheaper mer-
chandise, and the outside men upon calling at
the houses of the prospects faced the same de-
mand. This went on for some time until it was
found that quite a bit of active business was
being lost for the reason that the store could
not accommodate those who desired to pur-
chase receivers under $150.
Stocking a Cheaper Line
More as a matter of experiment than any-
thing else there was stocked a small supply of
three receivers which could be sold for prices
of $100, $125 and $140. (This was before the
advent of certain sets which could be sold com-
plete for less than $100.) Experience after that
led to cutting down appreciably on the more
expensive merchandise and to capitalizing on
the sets sold to the less wealthy class of people.
Situated between two classes, however, it was
necessary to carry receivers which had a price
appeal to both classes, those who would not
distrust merchandise selling cheap and those
who would not purchase inexpensive merchan-
dise.
This experience, as well as the experience of
several other merchants on the side of the town
which is made up of mostly the people to whom
the lower-price merchandise appeals, shows that
music merchants will have to run their radio
departments according to the clientele to which
they cater—of course tempering such a depar-
ture with common sense in that when such a pro-
cedure is incorporated in the business, it will have
to be done in such a way that the merchant does
not lose prestige by it.
Every music merchant knows his clients and
the financial status of those residing in the
vicinity which he serves, and it therefore should
not prove a very difficult problem for him to
decide definitely what type of merchandise to
carry. The sectional demands of this sort will
undoubtedly grow more noticeable as the new
season opens, because it is then that the people
who have not purchased radio receivers will be
in the frame of mind to buy. Undoubtedly, as
time goes on, such demands will be made more
noticeable until, as in everything else, the type
of radio receiver which the music merchant will
sell will be determined by the class of clients to
whom he sells as a general rule.
Size of Stock
It might seem to the merchant that such a
procedure would entail a very large stock of
merchandise and a wide range of types, but the
general tendency in the entire field is towards
carrying fewer lines, all of which have a good
name value, are advertised and which the man-
ufacturer has attempted to place before the
music merchants through his own trade chan-
nels. This will have the effect of stabilizing the
radio industry as it will have a tendency to
eliminate from the music field the "half sisters"
which are of no immediate value.
This further amplifies the necessity of the
music merchant carrying radio apparatus which
is backed with a good name and a national
repute, and from all indications those music
merchants who are sufficiently farsighted to ac-
knowledge this have started in to eliminate the
dead wood from their radio departments, giving
their place to lines of radio merchandise which
they can rely upon and which they know have
made their mark in the field.-
Tuning of Radio Receivers
Using Several Controls
How the Customer May Be Persuaded As to
the Tuning Possibilities of the Sets By the
Presenting of Some Logical Arguments
A simple analogy for the tuning of a radio
receiver has been utilized by the head salesman
in charge of radio in the Audubon Music* Shop,
New York City, which aids the customers to
understand the somewhat difficult tuning on the
receivers having three or more controls. As
this has been the bone of contention in the
sale of most sets, the clients wanting the sets
which tuned the easiest, it has therefore aided
the merchant in disposing of some of the more
difficultly tuned receivers which he has in stock.
His argument generally runs thus: "Tuning
a receiver is just like tuning a violin or a
banjo, only in the case of the radio set, the
station transmitting performs the action of the
"pitch pipe." This receiver has
controls,
each of which must be placed in resonance
or tune with the station you desire, and ac-
cordingly you must learn to know the "pitch"
of the transmitter. Furthermore there is a dif-
ference in tuning a receiver with that of a
violin inasmuch as in a violin each string lias
a different tone—in a radio set each circuit
must be tuned the same.
"Therefore, you will find that WEAF, for
instance, having a tone or wave length of 492
meters will come in on 63, we will say. If
you desire a shorter wave station you must
shorten your tune, by decreasing the value to
which" the set will respond. So then, if you
want a station at 400 meters, it will lie some-
where between 63 and zero, and you will find
that it is generally around 40. Now if you
want a station of 455 meters, you will find
that it lies approximately half way between
these two points, and similarly with any other
station above or below these points—they all
11
run in direct proportion with the dial numbers
;md the wave lengths. •
"Anyone who plays a banjo will know that
in order to produce a certain chord all the
strings have to be touched at definite points,
therefore, with radio, all the dials have to be
sot at definite places in order to receive a sta-
tion on a definite wave length. In other words,
tuning a violin or banjo and tuning a radio
set arc almost identical, with the exception that
in one case you are tuning to a definite tone,
where in the other you are tuning to a very
high pitched etheric vibration from a distant
source."
This argument or rather sales talk has the
decided effect of showing the customer that
tuning is a simple matter if it is just analyzed,
and that no matter how difficult a set may ap-
pear, if a methodical manner of tuning is used
the set will function in the correct manner.
When a violinist is perfect he may be able to
tune his instrument by "ear" but until he is
that accomplished he must rely upon the pianist
o r the pitch pipe—so with the radio enthusiast.
When he is perfect he may be able to set his
dials by guess work—but until that time ar-
rives he must content himself to tune by ear
(hearing the stations).
Wuchter Music Go. Stages
Its Own Radio Exhibition
Elaborate Pre-Holiday Showing of Many Types
of Receivers Attract Much Attention and a
Considerable Volume of Business
ALLKNTOWN, PA., December 20.—The Wuchter
Music Co., located at 927 Hamilton street, this
city, lias staged a radio show which, from all
indications, is second to none ever run in a like
fashion by an independent merchant. Mr. Wuch-
ter, the proprietor of the store, arranged an
exhibit which was of interest to every radio
fan and prospective purchaser of radio instru-
ments. In order to accomplish this practically
the entire store had to be given over to this
purpose, to provide space for the various cab-
inet models of receivers which were used in the
display.
In the exhibition and demonstration scores of
radio receiving instruments of every conceivable
description and with a very wide range of price
wrrc displayed, and specially engaged radio men
were on hand to explain the various receivers
to the visitors. This exhibition, Mr. Wuchter
explained, is one phase of the development of
his radio business.
New Starr Loud Speaker
Just Placed on Market
Starr Piano Co. Announces New Loud Speaker
Unit for Radio Use—Includes a Number of
Features of Interesting Character
The Starr Piano Co., Richmond, Ind., has
just announced the new "Starr Loud Speaker"
New Starr Loud Speaker
for use in radio reception. In announcing the
speaker, which is practical in design, it is stated
that the horn is fashioned from silver grain
spruce, long favored for musical instruments,
and hangs free so that the tone comes out full
and clear. The loud speaker comes in a hand-
somely finished cabinet in mahogany, walnut .or
oak, and a carved grill covers-the open portion
of the speaker.