Presto

PRESTO
October 2, 1920.
SELLING A PLAYERPIANO
IN TWENTY MINUTES
E. D. Avery, Boston Dealer, Has Alluring Theories
About Time Limits in Gulbransen Sales.
When you sell something you are assured is good
and worth the money asked for it it is your duty
to the customer and yourself to reduce the time in
selling to the minimum. That is a leading tenet in
the wareroom beliefs of E. D. Avery, Boston dis-
tributor of the Gulbransen playerpiano. He holds
that a Gulbransen playerpiano should be sold in not
to exceed twenty minutes. When the customer is
one of the "tough" kind, slow in responding to the
urge, he concedes thirty minutes. But he would sell
the "easy" buyer in ten minutes and so keep up the
average of twenty minutes allotted to each sale.
Mr. Avery is one of the kind who does not pro-
mulgate a theory until he proves its worthiness to
be adopted. In advancing the theory about the
time limit to a Gulbransen salesman he had the
in charge of Prof. Fred Carberry, famous the length
and breadth of Milwaukee and farther as a musician.
Prof. Carberry has had charge of community sing-
ing in Milwaukee for some years. His patriotic
efforts during the recent world's war did more than
any other single influence to put Milwaukee on the
map as one of the sure-fire patriotic spots in this
whole country. No one of his auditors at these
community efforts in the parks, in halls and in
churches, lodges, in the Milwaukee Auditorium or
elsewhere, could ever again doubt the loyalty of
Milwaukee to the United States and her best inter-
ests.
Every mother and daughter, every father and son
in Milwaukee knows Mr. Carberry; so he has prior-
ity of acquaintance throughout the city to begin
with, which is a wonderful advantage in making
sales.
DRUM MANUFACTURERS
ERECT NEW BUILDING
Leedy
E. D. AVERY.
backing of his own experiences. In fact he has
proved that a salesman works better when he works
fast. Speed induces pep, enthusiasm.
The Avery store is at 104 Boylston street and the
sign on the window "Player Specialists" is given
and taken literally. The sale of players is a
specialty in the store of E. D. Avery. Players con-
stitute the interesting stock in trade and the happy
salesmen there concentrate on only one type of
instrument. One of the joys of life for the salesmen
at 104 Boylston street is proving the alluring
theories of Mr. Avery.
CHANGE OF NAME OF
NASHVILLE, TENN., PIANO HOUSE
W. H. Beach Is President of Nashville Piano Co ,
Formerly the Lamb Piano Co.
W. H. Beach, treasurer of the Bush & Lane Piano
Co., Holland, Mich., is president of the Nashville
Piano Co., Nashville, Tenn., formerly the Lamb
Piano Co. The company has been incorporated un-
der the new name. Kenneth W. Rains, formerly as-
sociated with the music department of the Castner-
Knott Co., is the general manager of the Nashville
Piano Co. Mrs. Alberta McArahan is treasurer.
The Nashville Piano Company has removed from
the old location occupied for so long by the Lamb
Piano Co., to its new quarters at 136-138 Eighth
Avenue, North. The new building is one of the
music centers of Nashville. Many music teachers
and artists have their studios there. In addition to
the line of the Bush & Lane Piano Co., the Welte
Mignon Reproducing Piano has been acquired.
BISSELL=WEISERT CO. OPENS
BRANCH IN MILWAUKEE
New Store at 420 Jackson Street Is In Charge of
Prof. F. Carberry.
The Bissell-Weisert Piano Company, well-known
Chicago retail concern, with store in the Fine Arts
Building, is just opening a branch house in Milwau-
kee, Wis. The new store, which is a remodeled
residence, is at 420 Jackson street, on Milwaukee's
East Side. It is next door to J. B. Thiery's piano
house and the Staunton art establishment, and only
a block and a half from the Hotel Pfister.
The same lines as are handled by the Chicago
store will be sold in Milwaukee, and the place is
Manufacturing Company of Indianapolis,
Gives Further Evidence of Growth.
The Leedy Manufacturing Company, Indian-
apolis, Ind., makers of drums and kindred instru-
ments, which began business in a room in the old
Cyclorama building that occupied part of the site
of the Traction Terminal Building, is erecting a
three-story reinforced concrete building as an ad-
dition to its present plant on East Palmer street.
The new building, which conforms in architecture
to the present plant, will afford 12,000 square feet
of additional floor space, and is to be completed
about Dec. 1.
The first building occupied by the company, on
the present site, was a one-story brick building, 40
by 50 feet. Then, in 1911, a three-story building of
reinforced concrete, with about 12,000 square feet
of floor space, was built, and in 1919 another build-
ing of similar construction and height that gave ad-
ditional floor space of 7,500 square feet was added.
Among the instruments manufactured by the
company are drums of many kinds, xylophones,
marimbaphones, chimes, the rawhide, or calf skin
or goat skin, for the drum heads, and cases for the
instruments.
WIDE RANGE TO SATISFY
THE VERMONT CUSTOMERS
Choice for Every Green Mountain Piano Buyer
Provided by Bailey's Music Rooms.
Bailey's Music Rooms, Burlington, Vt., points
to the experiences of forty years in leadership in
pianos in that city. The range of makes and styles
shown in the handsome music rooms on College
street is an indication of a wise choice for every
requirement of the buyer of pianos or playerpianos.
The list includes the Mason & Hamlin, Knabe,
Henry F. Miller, Kingsbury, Wellington, Kohler &
Campbell and others. The house has a fine busi-
ness in Jnner-Players, made by the Cable Company,
Chicago.
In a clever announcement this week the firm
sa3's: "Pianos, like everything else, are made to
meet a variety of requirements. The instrument
that fully meets the needs of one home might be
altogether unsuited to another. That piano house
which has only a limited assortment of instruments
at its disposal is apt to be tempted to sell you a
piano wholly unsuited to your requirements. More-
over, the price asked for such an instrument might
be far above what the very best instrument for your
precise needs should cost. The great factories, on
the other hand, build a wide variety of models—in-
struments for every purpose—at an extensive range
of prices. And each instrument—whether it be a
grand, upright or an Inner-Player—is the finest in
its class. Of that you can be sure."
MINNEAPOLIS PREPARATIONS.
The Cable Piano Co., Minneapolis, Minn., re-
cently concluded an alteration sale which was con-
sidered very successful in the matter of cleaning up
the stock and providing more space for the' show-
ing of the fall and winter line. It was called an
alteration sale because of the extensive changes
an improvements made in the store. The ware-
rooms are hardly recognizable to one who recalls
the old arrangements. Manager W. S. Collins is
prepared for the big season in pianos and players
that lie expects.
TOOK DAUGHTER TO COLLEGE.
Henry Johnson, piano man of Bellevue, Iowa,
passed through Chicago on Monday of this week en
route westward from Boston, Mass. He had been
in New England, placing his daughter..in, Wellcsley
College.
LETTERS ADDRESSED TO
PIANO SUPPLY ASSN.
In Communication to Members, President
David A. Smith Tells Why Financial Sup-
port Should Be Forthcoming for Chamber.
The formal announcement of the Supply Assess-
ment plan under which it is expected the Musical
Supply Association of America will raise its $25,000
assessment toward the activities of the Music Indus-
tries Chamber of Commerce has been made by
President David A. Smith of the Supply Association,
in a letter which he has just sent to all members.
Mr. Smith calls attention to the fact that the di-
rectors of the association accepted the assessment
only after careful consideration of the purposes,
plans and accomplishments of that organization,
and after deciding that the amount requested is
commensurate with that paid by the other member
associations of the Chamber, and with the results
achieved.
In the music industry there are separate trade or-
ganizations for each branch of the industry, which
together constitute the Music Industries Chamber
of Commerce, which serves as the operating organ-
ization for all. In this way each organization has
available through the Chamber of Commerce facili-
ties which no one organization could command it-
self.
Each member of the Supply Association is asked
to give the assessment plan his careful and immedi-
ate attention in the hope that its acceptance will
soon be received from all members of the associa-
tion, thus assuring the financial support expected in
the supply trade. The attached memorandum show-
ing what the Music Industries Chamber of Com-
merce offers the Supply Association in return for its
assessment, has been distributed throughout the
supply trade:
The chamber provides the Supply Association
with the facilities of a broad and well developed
trade organization, and with the services of a spe-
cialized staff to carry out any of the projects which
the association may undertake, as, for instance, the
operation of the Credit Bureau.
Through its membership in the Chamber, the Sup-
ply Association is given the opportunity of confer-
ring under favorable auspices with representatives
of other branches of the music industry on vital
questions of mutual interest, such as credits and
standardization.
Approximately 40 per cent of the assessment of
the Supply Association will be spent by the Cham-
ber in its activities for the promotion of the use and
appreciation of music, which is of the most vital im-
portance to the supply trade, as it in fact cultivates
the field for further increase in the music industry.
The Legal Bureau is constantly on the watch
against state and national legislation inimical to the
interests of the supply trade, and offers an informa-
tion service on legal matters pertaining to the sup-
ply business.
The Chamber's Export Bureau is working in for-
eign markets to interest buyers in American-made
musical instruments, supplies and merchandise, and
assists members by obtaining credit information, by
aiding in finding proper foreign agents, by advising
concerning sales, arrangements, etc. These serv-
ices are available for those members of the Supply
Association who find an opportunity to export their
product. Indirectly, the results of the bureau's
work in increasing the exportation of musical in-
struments are of great value to members of the sup-
ply trade who sell only to the domestic market.
Through its Better Business Bureau, the Chamber
works tactfully and effectively to eliminate practices
which are harmful to the industry.
In every way possible the Chamber is constantly
working to develop and protect the various branches
of the music industry. It has the willingness and
facilities to meet such emergencies and problems as
may arise, tnd its miscellaneous activities are conse-
quently many and varied. The Chamber stands
ready and able at all times to take up any problem
cf importance to the supply trade.
IMPROVING ALBANY STORE.
Improvements in the store are soon to be com-
menced by the Thomas Music Stores, Inc., 102
North Pearl street, Albany, N. Y. The contract has
been let to remodel the entire second floor. When
the work is completed the firm will have one of the
most attractive piano salesrooms in the city. Like
most all building operations these days, difficulties
seem always to develop. Tn the case of the Thomas
store it was the removal to storage of the great
number of pianos occupying the floor. The firm
tried to make the problem simpler by selling as
many of .the pianos as possible and offered them at
price concession to move them,
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