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THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
AUGUST 29, 1925
Growth of Radio Retail Distribution With the Music Merchant—(Continued from page 3)
Practically every large general music store
with a radio department has organized a compe-
tent service department to-day and in many
cases with free service reduced to a minimum,
these departments are paying for themselves, or
else representing no greater a proportion of the
-overhead than does the piano service depart-
ment itself. Competent radio mechanics have
been employed, and, as in the case of the piano
technician, they have been found to be a stimu-
lant to sales, when properly trained and han-
dled. There are still some music merchants
who have their radio service done for them on
outside contract, but their number is steadily
diminishing." The radio service problem in the
retail music store was solved by experiment as
was everything else connected with this new
product and it may be emphatically stated that
it no longer is an obstacle to the development
of the department. Servicing charges are stead-
ily decreasing their ratio to the general over-
head represented in selling radio.
The Public's Attitude
Another important factor in this condition is
the more general knowledge on the part of the
public of what radio can do and what it can not
do People no longer expect to obtain perfect
reception under any and all conditions. They
realize that there are a number of other factors
which control, and over which neither the re-
ceiver nor the service department of the mer-
chant who sold the set originally can exercise
an influence. As a result the number of unnec-
essary calls which were formerly made upon the
merchant for service have decreased consider-
ably' Much educational work in creating this
new attitude has been done by the local music
merchants and the results have been gratifying.
It Must Be Sold
The majority of retail music merchants with
radio departments no longer consider radio as
a product that will be bought by the public, but
rather as one that must be sold to it. As a re-
sult they are putting behind this product the
same sort of merchandising ability which they
have always been compelled to put behind the
piano and player-piano. Both of these instru-
ments have always had to be sold to the public.
A number of merchants are already resorting
to canvassing the good old-fashioned "door-
bell ringing," and they report results from it.
Many of them state that they are selling cus-
tomers who have bought other instruments
from them with gratifying results. Most of
them are preparing extensive advertising cam-
paigns for the Fall, based of course on the ex-
tent of the territory they cater to and their
volume of business. The music merchant is
ready to merchandise radio as it should be mer-
chandised and of which up to the present time
little has been done.
What the Merchant Expects
But there are certain things which must be clone
if this attitude is to be developed. First of all
the average music dealer wants a certain
amount of protection on the line he handles.
If be is going to put selling work behind a cer-
tain name after he has created a demand for it,
he does not want, the same line in another store
immediately down the street, a competitor who
•will cash in on the work which he himself has
done. It is not a question of an exclusive fran-
chise, but it is a question of protection which
he believes he is entitled to. This attitude is
general among music dealers.
Concentration in Buying
The second point is that the music merchant
generally is concentrating on certain lines. He
is looking for name values, and in this connec-
tion is narrowly watching the co-operation
which the manufacturer is giving. He want's all
the experience possible at his command, what
he has obtained for himself and what the manu-
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facturer has obtained. Whatever sales helps he
will receive he will use. This is in line with
his general experience in the music industry
itself.
"Gyp" Disappearing
The music merchants no longer believe the
"gyp" the menace to sales that they once con-
sidered him. In the first place he meets his
competition by proper service and by relying
on the reputation which he has in his territory,
assets of considerable value. But lines which
are handled by "gyps" will find no representa-
tion in his store; he will clear them and seek
other receivers. Practically all merchants are
unanimous in their statements on this question.
100% Co-operation
Summing it up the average music merchant
expects to sell radio receivers in considerable
quantities this season; he expects to put his
selling ability behind it; he regards it as a
permanent section of his store. He has the
confidence in the product that he never had be-
fore. But he expects co-operation to a 100 per
cent degree, and the manufacturers from whom
he gets it are the manufacturers whose lines
he is going to merchandise, not simply carry.
Baltimore Music Merchants Meeting
Competition From Mail Order House
Montgomery, Ward & Co. Open Large Branch in That City With Special Offers on Player-
Pianos—Annual Stieff Picnic Being Looked Forward to—Nixon With Stieff House
D A L T I M O R E , M D , August 25.—This is va-
cation month in Baltimore and as a con-
sequence business during August has been
quiet and confined mostly to clearance sales
of used pianos and players taken in trade.
This class of goods, however, has been moving
fairly good and dealers generally have been
using more advertising space in the daily
papers than is usual at this time of the year.
Collections are reported as being fair and
outside of one or two dealers who make a
practice of letting instruments go out of their
stores on either a very small cash payment
or on no cash payment at all, but few repos-
sessions are being executed.
Montgomery, Ward & Co., of Chicago, have
opened their million-dollar branch here, enter-
ing into competition with the local retail trade,
and one of the first special offerings was a
player-piano offered at $398 on terms of $10
down and $10 a month with no interest charges
and a 25-year guarantee. Whether the results
were satisfactory or not could not be learned
but the trade generally feels that it will not
hurt the legitimate trade to any extent.
The annual picnic of the employes of Chas.
M. Stieff, Inc., which is one of the red letter
days in the history of both the office and fac-
tory forces, will be held next Saturday at Arion
Park, and committees are now at work arrang-
ing for the celebration. As has been the custom
ever since the affairs were held the event this
year will be preceded by the decoration of the
Fred Sunderman Resigns
From Melodee Music Go.
Gives Up Post as Manager of That Concern on
September 1—Future Plans Not Yet An-
nounced—O. W. Ray in Charge of Melodee
Co.
Frederick Sunderman, who for close to three
years has been manager for the Melodee Music
Co., the subsidiary of the Aeolian Co., has re-
signed that position, effective on September 1.
Mr. Sunderman has not yet announced his
plans for the immediate future, but he has sev-
eral important connections in contemplation,
and will make a definite decision at an early
date. He is one of the veterans of the music
roll industry, having started with the Tel-Elec-
tric Co. a number of years ago. For a long
period he was an active factor in the music roll
business of Bennett & White, Newark, N. J.,
and has a wide acquaintanceship among dealers.
Mr. Sunderman's direct successor in the Melo-
dee Music Co. has not yet been announced, but
Oscar W. Ray, manager of the wholesale radio
department of the Aeolian Co., has been placed
in general charge of the music roll business.
T
ONKRENCH
graves of all members of the Stieff family
buried in Baltimore and vicinity, committees
being appointed to visit each cemetery where
the bodies are buried and place wreaths on
the graves.
The celebration will start with a ball game
between teams representing the Stieff and Shaw
factories to be followed by various athletic
games and events for both men and women,
being brought to a close with dancing during
the evening.
Frederick P. Stieff, vice-president, returned
this month from a three-month tour of Europe
following his marriage in New York last May
and George W. Stieff, president, is just back
from a three weeks' trip to seashore resorts of
New Jersey and Long Island, while S. P.
Walker, general manager and treasurer, spent
his vacation at Atlantic City.
Clark R. Nixon is now sales manager of the
local retail store of the Charles M. Stieff, Inc.,
succeeding Louis Jacobi, who is now located in
Washington as the manager of the branch of
Cohen & Hughes, Inc., in that city. Other
changes in the Stieff organization include the
installation of William Hampe as manager of
the Pittsburgh branch.
Clarence Gennett, of the Starr Piano Co. of
Richmond, Ind., spent several days visiting the
trade in Baltimore and vicinity the early part
of the month. Mr. Gennett reported business
as being fairly good and said the outlook for
Fall and Winter was very encouraging.
Weidoeft Orchestra a Hit
CANTON, O., August 24.—Herb Weidoeft and his
Brunswick Recording Orchestra, now in its
fourth week at Moonlight Ballroom here, has
broken all dance hall attendance records in this
section. The five-week engagement here of
the Weidoeft band is the longest the orchestra
has stopped since it left Los Angeles, in the
Spring. Weidoeft last week gave three prizes,
one a Brunswick phonograph, secured through
the local dealer, the D. W. Lerch Music Co.,
to winners of the fox-trot contest, held at the
big pavilion last week.
Guides at Wurlitzer Plant
BUKI-ALO, N. Y., August 24.—Because of the
numerous visitors at the Wurlitzer plant here,
the company has employed special guides to
take visitors through the plant.
Papers of incorporation have been filed re-
cently by the Vibro Piano & Instrument Co., of
Liberty, N. Y., which will have a capital stock
of $250,000. The incorporators are H. Beck,
S. Scheraga and A. Vredenburgh.
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