Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
NOVEMBER 7,
1925
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
MethodsThat Brought Mandel Volume
in His Radio Department
New York Music Merchant, in the Face of "Gyp" Competition, Has Built Up Large Volume of Radio Sales
in Lower East Side Through Selling Only High-Class Merchandise in the Higher Price Ranges and
Concentrating on Proper Merchandising in This Department of His Warerooms
T
HERE is probably no consideration more
important to the music dealer installing
radio in his store than the proposition
of keeping this new department up to the stand-
ard of the other branches of his business. The
mistake is sometimes made by music merchants
of taking on a few standard lines of radio and
planting the half dozen sets, like pots of gera-
niums, among the phonographs and pianos in
his display space. After a few weeks this type
of merchant generally finds that he is still sell-
ing a normal number of pianos and phono-
graphs, but that he has the same dusty radio
sets staring him in the face each morning when
he opens his store.
The matter of the success or failure of the
music dealer with radio seems to lie in the atti-
tude with which he resolves to carry the line.
If he merely succumbs to the arguments of the
radio manufacturers, whose salesmen are pes-
tering him daily with the fact that he is not "in
the swim" and that he should handle radio
simply because it is "being done" by the trade,
the chances are large that he will not be in-
clined to push the line after he adds it. This is
natural, for it is human nature not to give one's
best efforts to the things which others have
thought of for him.
A business man is not necessarily interested
in being "in the swim." He has a mill to work,
and it is his aim to set his water-wheel in the
swiftest and largest stream available. There
is not much time for swimming. Let him see
for himself the way in which radio will furnish
a steady stream of orders in his store and he
will require no prods from the wholesalers or
manufacturers. It is probable that the latter
would meet with more success if they would
persuade the dealer to create a new department
at the start rather than merely ask him to ac-
cept a few sets as novelties. One expects
novelties to push themselves, but, with the in-
vestment required for a complete department,
a dealer will usually knuckle down and "move"
the merchandise.
An Example
A good example of a hard-headed music
merchant, who did not join the parade at the
first blast of the trumpeting about radio, but
who has since worked out a practical method
of merchandising it along with his piano, pho-
nograph and record business, is Max M.
Mandel, of New York, located at 110-112 De-
lancey street for over twenty years. This sec-
tion of New York's lower East Side contained
nests of fly-by-night electricians and "gyps"
handling radio from the first stages of its popu-
larity. In the face of arguments from the be-
ginning that thousands of dollars were being
made all about him, Mr. Mandel calmly turned
his back and waited for the skies to clear a bit.
He considered that the time was ripe about
two years ago, and set aside half of his second
floor for a suitable showing of radio equipment.
There was no planting of odd sets here and
there on his floor. A complete radio depart-
ment was created with a preponderance of the
more expensive sets, such as the Atwater Kent
and the Radio Corp. lines. Patrons inspecting
the department were made to realize that the
Mandel store was not featuring bargain sets
but dependable sets, and that the guarantee of
the house stood behind radio just the same as
it did behind the nationally known lines of
pianos and talking machines it had carried for
more than two decades. Confidence in radio
as a standard article was established in the cus-
tomers' minds by the completeness of the de-
partment and all notions of it being a mere
novelty were dispelled. As a result the busi-
ness grew and grew, and is now considered to
be one of the most successful radio departments
in the whole East Side.
It will not be our purpose here to go into
how Mr. Mandel made it known to his clientele
that he was handling radio. Suffice it to say
that he tried all the well-known methods, in-
cluding canvassing with an outside force. The
old customers were circularized in their
monthly bills; record customers were given
radio literature, etc. But Mr. Mandel soon
found that the most valuable publicity for his
business was obtained through the medium of
pleased customers and he set about to accom-
plish this as efficiently as possible.
Proper Merchandising
One of the main things he was determined
to do was to merchandise radio in his store
in as dignified a manner as art goods are sold on
Fifth avenue. He placed Max Kaplan, one of his
most capable salesmen, in charge of the depart-
ment and the thing worked beautifully. Patrons,
who had known the Mandel house for twenty
years, learned of the new department and came
in prepared to buy. The confidence in his
other lines and in Mr. Mandel himself was
transferred automatically to the new division
of the business because the Mandel tradition of
carrying dependable merchandise was plainly
being maintained.
During the past year the Mandel house has
been specializing in art cabinets in order to
offer patrons something at once attractive, per-
manent and different. Most of them are Pooley
cabinets designed for Atwater Kent receivers,
and the latter are installed in them. The other
cabinets are also designed for this type of re-
ceiving set exclusively. Mr. Kaplan stated that
the main reason for holding to the one make of
radio set for cabinet installation is that the
house has the fullest confidence in the line.
Customers buying one of these cabinet in-
stallations, which range in price from $300 to
more than $700, are easily shown that they are
buying a permanent article of furniture for
beautifying their homes. Mr. Kaplan frequently
visits their homies personally to aid them in the
selection of the article most suitable to their
needs. He even goes further than that by hav-
ing a working arrangement with a Japanese
artist who paints beautiful lacquer finishes on
the cabinets when desired. A wide demand for
these finishes has been created during the past
few months among discriminating patrons, who
have expressed the desire for something in
radio different from their neighbors' sets.
Concentration Pays
It is clear that by this kind of concentration
on something out of the ordinary, that pos-
sesses the elements of permanency, a class of
radio business has been developed by the Man-
del concern which would be welcomed by any
music dealer in the country. It is true that
many of the patrons for the expensive sets
come from outside the East Side district, as
Delancey street, like Grand and a few other.
streets of this section, has become part of a
shopping district for Brooklyn and Bronx resi-
dents. However, Mr. Mandel was not merely
gambling for this trade when he installed his
elaborate department. He knew his clientele,
where it came from, what it could afford, and
why it patronized him, from his long experience
in the piano field. To sell radio on the same
basis was just a safe bet.
Standardizing Accessories
One or two other principles followed out by
Mr. Kaplan, the department manager, in mak-
ing sales more secure are noteworthy. For one
thing all sets sold by the house contain only
one make of batteries and one make of tubes.
Mr. Mandel and Mr. Kaplan have experimented
with various makes of these accessories and
have selected the brand which, by their expe-
rience, is most dependable. A customer desiring
to buy a set, complete with tubes and batteries,
must take that kind only or else buy a stripped
set. This has reduced servicing charges greatly
and in addition has given greater ultimate satis-
faction to the purchaser.
Another idea is the matter of charging for
repairs after the period of instalment payment
is over. Mr. Mandel has held to the point that
"bread cast upon the waters comes back but-
tered toast," and so if a part of a receiving set
or cabinet has to be replaced no charge is made
for the labor and time of the repair man, but a
charge amounting to cost is made for the part
itself. He has followed this practice in selling
musical instruments for many years and con-
siders that the satisfaction given to old cus-
tomers in this way is a boomerang in bringing
new trade and creating good-will. He is willing
to donate his repair man's time for it.
As for carrying a smaller sized set, Mr.
Mandel and Mr. Kaplan have decided to mini-
mize the stock as much as possible. The latter
stated that they will meet the demand for the
smaller sets this Fall, such as the smaller
Radiola models. They will also have a shelf
of Fada sets for such customers who are not
logical buyers of the more expensive cabinet
installations. The example of the Mandel store
is a strong one to show the advantage to the
dealer of entering whole-heartedly into radio.
If it is worth handling in a music store, it is
worth handling with dignity.
Cameron Radio Section
ALLENTOWN, PA., October 30.—The Cameron
Piano Co., now completely settled in its new
and commodious quarters at 950 Hamilton street,
is ready to render efficient service to the pa-
trons of the radio department, which is grow-
ing rapidly. Among the sets handled are the
Radio Corp., Atwater Kent, Garod and Ken-
nedy models, with a complete line of acces-
sories.
Heppner With Thompson
Walter A. Heppner, formerly of the Western
Electric Co., has joined the laboratory staff of
R. E. Thompson Mfg. Co., radio manufacturer,
as chief assistant to Dr. L. F. Fuller, vice-presi-
dent and chief engineer. Mr. Heppner super-
vised important work with the United States
Army Signal Corps at Camp Alfred Vail during
the war.
Consult the Universal Want Directory of
The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
free of charge for men who desire positions.