Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, DECEMBER, 1U0
With labor getting more, dealers will
be selling to persons this year who
couldn't buy a piano in 1939, and our
guess of 175,000 covers expansion of
sales of those groups now affording
pianos plus digging into the new
groups. So a 25% increase is reason-
able.
priced from $169 to $1,000. Sh! they
also show 124 kinds of women's hose;
175 kinds of women's gloves; 296
styles of buttons. Imagine also the big
displays at Wanamakers, Strawbridge
& Clothier and the other 143 depart-
ment stores in the U.S. selling pianos.
O
N
D
I
G
I
UR expectation of 500,000
pianos per year within a few
years is possible. When an in-
dustry collapses as did pianos,
it takes about 10 years to get the in-
dustry machinery functioning prop-
erly, and we are just about hitting that
latter stride now, almost 5 times the
"low" year; our feeling of accomplish-
ment is an enthusiasm developer, and
with the administration aiming for the
100 billion income years, pianos cer-
tainly could get the "measley" $150,-
000,000 retail sales embraced in the
500,000 pianos.
O you realize that that $150,-
000,000 is but $1.10 per
capita for pianos (but 32c in
1940) and right this year, $9
per capita is going for furniture. This
year, 2,800,000 refrigerators, 1,500,-
000 washers, 1,000,000 stoves, 9,-
000,000 radio sets, etc., etc., etc. are
being sold versus 140,000 pianos.
Don't blame me for feeling enthu-
siastic over the future of the piano
business, for it is just beginning to
emerge from the cocoon of 1932 into
a commercial butterfly of brilliancy
and beauty (please don't shoot for the
comparison.)
IMBEL'S, Philadelphia, fea-
tures magnitude of service —
13 acres of floor space in
which 186 departments are lo-
cated. In pianos are shown 35 kinds,
OW it seems that not even
yet is the phrase "department
store" assimilated by many
"piano dealers." Phrase is
tolerated, but there is still that smoul-
dering fire of hate after these many
years. Every now and then, I am
chided by dealers for advocacy of more
piano departments in such stores, but
the comments on furniture stores add-
ing pianos went by with no personal
molestation. E v i d e n t l y , furniture
stores don't do too much on pianos but
a department store does a good job.
T doesn't make any difference who
sells pianos, as long as they are
sold. The department store is as
much of a promoter of prospects
for dealers to knock off, as it is a culler
of prospects developed by the dealers.
A department store with musical pres-
tige is a rare object, and the smart
dealers can sell all around them on
higher unit of sales, plus musical pres-
tige and personal service to customers.
All the alarm over department stores is
mental, for it is a rare one that gives
strong competition to dealers, except
on advertising.
ATTER may be the wood pile
and g e n e r a l l y advertises
• nigger, for it buys space at
• about 50% less than dealers,
"special — $195" and being foolish
enough to sell 'em. No piano dealer