Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
AUGUST 9, 1924
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
11
REVIEW
Making the Music Rolls Pay the Rent
How the Werner Piano Co., of Chicago, Has Developed Its Music Roll Department by Careful Merchan-
dising and Steady Selling Campaigns, Until It Takes Care of This Important Part of the
Overhead—Methods Which Have Created Volume Sales of This Product
M
AKING Roll Department Pay Yearly
Rent of Store! In accomplishing this
supposedly very difficult feat Alex Stin-
son, head of the retail store of the Werner Piano
Co., located in the heart of the foreign district
of Chicago, at 1323 Milwaukee avenue, has only
applied the simple principles which control
every successful business. Of course, to net a
profit in the roll department that will pay the
yearly rent is not always possible, especially in
a large establishment with a great deal of over-
head, but in the average music store, Mr. Stin-
son points out, the roll department, if properly
run, will more than pay the rent for the whole
year.
That the Werner Piano Co. has been suc-
cessful is gathered from the yearly statement
which shows that for every year during the fif-
teen years the company has been in business
there has been an increase over the year pre-
vious. So the methods applied by Mr. Stinson,
while perfectly simple, are no doubt practical.
Furthermore, his store operates among a for-
eign group of people, which, while just as good
to sell musical instruments to as any class found
in the country, would be somewhat discouraging
to any less energetic man than he. Eighty per
cent of the people that patronize the store are
foreign, about 65 per cent being Polish, 10 per
cent Italian, 5 per cent German, and the balance
of English-speaking nationalities.
While the piano and the player-piano depart-
ment does the largest part of the company's
business, the profit docs not stop there, for the
music roll department goes hand in hand with
the player-piano business. If the dealer can
turn to his roll department and find a cash profit
that will pay his yearly rent and some minor
bills he will do his best to cultivate the roll
business. How does Mr. Stinson do it? Let
him tell us in his own words. He said:
"The other day I went downtown to buy
some shirts. I wanted a certain kind and, of
course, in my si/.e. Although I know that stocks
are low at this time of the year, I found it irri-
tating to have to go to several stores before I
found what I wanted. In one place the sales-
man tried to switch me on some other style,
and in another the salesman was courteous but
confessed that he did not have what I wanted
in stock. Only at the third call did I find what
I wanted.
"Now, the same condition applies to the music
roll buyer. He hears a tune that he likes, or
wants a certain number, and comes to the store
to get it. Right here is the big factor in our
music roll business. We always endeavor to
have the roll in stock. We carry at times a
stock of 10,000 rolls. This stock, of course,
would not mean much if they were dead rolls,
but we see to it that the stock consists of late
numbers, and, what is-more, numbers that the
people want.
"We have discovered, in endeavoring to have
the right kind of stock, that it is not what we
want to order, but what the. demand is for that
counts, and so we order accordingly. This is
accomplished through personal observation of
popular numbers, by observing the type of
music the customers like, and by taking advice
from the roll manufacturer or wholesale man
as to what are the popular sellers and order-
ing these every month from the bulletin. In
our own case, it is necessary to order the for-
eign rolls in like manner, especially the Polish
numbers, as the Polish people follow the catalog
very closely.
"While we consider our stock the basis of our
business, we cultivate sales by means Q£ direct
advertising, displays, etc. By always trying to
have what the customer wants we have devel-
oped a large drop-in trade. Every month 5,000
bulletins are mailed out, including the roll and
record lists, to our customers, with a little note
saying something to this effect: 'Why not keep
your library up to date? We have some new
numbers, just what you want.' And adding: 'If
you have no use for this—kindly give it to your
neighbor.' This latter suggestion works won-
ders and has been particularly effective in bring-
ing in new customers.
"We sell twice as many word rolls as rolls
without words, and many times as many popu-
lar selections as classical. While all our sales
people help out in the roll department, I per-
sonally do the ordering, with their advice, the
advice of the wholesale man and any other way,
as careful ordering eliminates accumulation of
stock. .We cannot spend too much time in
studying the popular demand, especially among
the younger element, as they do a great deal of
the buying. Perhaps the parents want a Hun-
garian rhapsody, but they usually pay for a num-
ber such as 'The One I Love,' as this is what
the daughter wants!
"We play nearly all the rolls ourselves, espe-
cially when the older people want to hear sev-
Freight Rate Investigation
Planned by Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission to Make
Study of Freight Rates in Territory North
of Potomac and East of Ohio Rivers
WASHINGTON, D. C, August 4. A full investi-
gation of freight rates in territory north of the
Potomac and east of the Ohio Rivers is to be
undertaken by the Interstate Commerce Com-
mission with a view to determining whether
necessity longer exists for the imposition of
higher rates for shorter than for longer dis-
tances over the same line or route on such com-
modities as are now subject to discrimination.
The case was taken up at the request of car-
riers who have petitioned for permission to con-
tinue such rates and shippers who seek to have
them terminated. Class rate scales in New
England and central territories will also be
taken up in order that such adjustments may
be made as may prove desirable in order that
they may be properly linked to whatever class
rates as prescribed, as a result of the investiga-
tion in other parts of official territory. The
dates and points at which hearings will be held
will be announced later.
Hardman, Peck Visitors
Among the visitors at the executive offices of
Hardman, Peck & Co., New York, during the
past weeks was G. Ivan Tait, of Melbourne,
Australia, son of Charles Tait, managing direc-
tor of Allan & Co., Ltd., which carries the
Hardman line in that city. Mr. Tait expressed
himself as being highly pleased with the Hard-
man player line and made an excursion through
the Hardman factory at 542 West Fifty-second
street, accompanied by Ashley B. Cone, vice-
president of the company, to observe the con-
struction of these instruments. Mr. Tait came
to the United States, he said, to look into the
radio industry and to make connections for
carrying this line, in Melbourne.
eral numbers, and that is why we do not have
a lot of separate booths. You would not send
a customer off to a booth to play the piano and
look it over. No. The sale is too important.
But we also consider the roll sale just as impor-
tant—and it is.
"I have noticed that when I leave the cus-
tomer to himself to play the rolls he sits and
plays until he is tired, oftimes does not play the
roll correctly, or is undecided when he gets
through and does not know what he wants.
We, therefore, play the rolls if the customers
want us to, sand at the same time suggest cer-
tain numbers that are popular and that we be-
lieve the customer will like. This method elimi-
nates a good deal of time.
"All these things, I believe, would be inci-
dental if the proper selection of rolls were not
kept in stock. The advertising especially would
be fruitless if you drew the customer in the
store and then didn't have what he wanted. He
would either go to another store as I did when
I bought the shirts, or perhaps buy a roll he
did not want and become a dissatisfied cus-
tomer. Our aim is to have a growth of steady,
satisfied customers who have developed the
habit of finding just what they want in our
music roll department."
Pratt Read
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