December 13, 1924.
ITEM OF RENT IN
YOUR BUSINESS
PRESTO
IVERS & POND IN RADIO
An Important and Unescapable Factor Which
Is Not Always Taken into Account
as It Should Be in Order
to Play Safe.
MAY LEAD TO FAILURE
At Beginning of a New Year Is the Best Time to
Take Careful Account of the
Overhead.
How much rent are you paying for your store? In
other words, what proportion of your gross business,
on the average, goes to the landlord? It is an im-
portant matter. A recent article in one of the great
New York newspapers discusses the point in plain,
unvarnished words. And the conclusion is that many
retail merchants, in all lines of business, pay so much
for their stores that they endanger their own success.
Of course, in the music business a, good location is
essential. In the piano business it is not so impor-
tant to be in the choicest place, especially in the
smaller cities, where competition is not of the kind
that suggests the "piano row."
In large cities, where there arc many dealers, it is
necessary to be with the crowd—at the center of
music interest, to which the "prospects" naturally go
when they are in the piano buying humor. Often
the suburbs, or some point in the large city far from
the center, presents opportunities for the small dealer.
But wherever the business is being done, the mat-
ter of rent is a large one and should be carefully
considered.
A Strong Factor.
The eastern newspaper said that one of the strong-
est factors in the failures of small retailers .is the
high rentals these merchants contract to pay. This
applies more or less to sellers of this merchandise in
all large cities, but particularly to those in New York.
What makes matters worse in many cases is that
these rents are paid for locations in which no retail
enterprise could hope to succeed unless the character
of the merchandise were such that stocks could be
turned several times a year at a substantial profit.
An interview with the credit bureau manager of a
large business league brought forth the following in-
teresting bits of experience and advice.
Cases in Point.
"There was a case in which the league aided in
keeping the owner of his store out of bankruptcy and
saved all that could be salvaged for the creditors.
In this particular instance a gross business of a little
less than $100 a week was being done in a location
that was costing the retailer $200 a month. In still
another case the monthly gross business did not run
much over $400, despite the relatively good location
of the store, while the overhead of the merchant was
swelled by a monthly rental item of $250.
"In most cases of failure the proportion of rent to
gross sales is about the same, it ranging from 50 per
cent of the total business to more than 60 per cent.
This not only seems to convict the retailer of a lack
of judgment in entering business under the circum-
stances in which he made his start, but it indicates
the existence of a false optimism regarding the future.
"No one likes a man who quits under fire or who
wants to give up because the going is rough, but
sometimes merchants, to the ultimate cost of their
creditors, struggle with a foolhardy- courage to keep
going much longer than they should. They stay in
business just as long as possible, and fight as hard
as they can for extensions of their merchandise obli-
gations. The only one who profits is the landlord,
for, as long as the manufacturers continue to take the
risk involved in selling merchandise to retailers of
this type, the latter go on paying rent.
Unescapable Expense.
"Of all the overhead expenses incurred in the con-
duct of a retail business, that of rent is the one cer-
tain, sure and unvarying item throughout the length
of the lease. Salary lists may wax and wane, ex-
penditures for merchandise, advertising, delivery,
heating, lighting and so on may vary from month to
month, but the rent never changes until a new lease
is signed. Strangely enough, however, it seems to
be the one expense in doing business of which the
small retailer fails to take full cognizance."
The manager went on to say that in citing the fore-
going instances he did not want to create the impres-
sion that landlords owning stores are unduly rapa-
cious. "New York and the other large cities are
crowded commercially," he continued. "Competition
is keen and good locations legitimately command high
RICH SETTING FOR PINE PIANO.
Geo. B. Dow, piano merchant in Englewood, Chi-
cago, has made a sale of an Ivers & Pond Grand to
WBCN Radio Station, where the instrument has the
advantage of nation-wide hearing and much splendid
publicity.
The studio interior of WBCN, the Southtown
Economist radio station (with a slogan of World's
Best Community Newspaper), in the judgment of
Geo. B. Dow, the 63rd street, Chicago, piano mer-
chant, is second to none in the world. Quiet splen-
dor marks the luxuriously fitted soundproof studio,
located in the Economist Building, at 65th street and
Emerald avenue, Chicago.
Heavy taupe draperies and carpet over felt padding
cover the walls, ceiling and floor, giving a rich set-
ting for the beautiful Ivers & Pond grand piano and
tapestry covered ivory reed furniture.
Mr. Dow is to be congratulated for placing his
leading piano where the publicity derived therefrom
is not only local, but nation-wide.
rentals. Then, too, sight must not be lost of the fact
that the final decision to rent a store is made by the
tenant and not by the landlord. There is nothing
compulsory about the matter so far as either is con-
cerned.
"The fact remains, however, that many small re-
tailers are paying far too much rent for the volume of
business they are doing. It remains, therefore, the
duty of the manufacturer to conserve his own inter-
ests by checking credits carefully on a small account.
Otherwise, when the business is wound up he will
find himself among the mourners."
Not All Applicable.
Not all of the foregoing applies perfectly to the
piano or general music store. But most of it does.
And, with a new year soon to begin, the time is
appropriate for a close self-interview and a careful
going over of the items of "overhead" by which the
outgo may be excessive. The outlook is good for a
busy year, but don't let that fact lead you into need-
less expenditures. In some respects good business
demands vastly more capital than poor business. En-
terprise is always good and necessary. Extravagance
is quite another matter.
SCHILLER SUPER-GRAND
BIG HIT IN THE TRADE
SEND-OFF FOR C. W. HOUSEMAN.
C. W. Houseman, a successful salesman of the J. B.
Bradford Piano Co., Milwaukee, was a guest re-
cently of the sales force at a dinner given to mark
their appreciation of his personality and admiration
of his selling ability. Mr. Houseman went east
December 1 to take a position. Hugh J. Randall,
president of the Bradford Piano Co., and Hugh M.
Holmes, vice-president and manager, spoke highly
of Mr. Houseman's genius at sales of Mason &
Hamlin pianos and other fine instruments.
NEW MANAGER.
Max Wilcox is the new manager of the San Jose
branch of the Wiley B. Allen Co., San Francisco,
succeeding A. W. Angel, who has been transferred
to the main store in San Francisco. In addition to
his ability to sell music goods, Mr. Wilcox is a prac-
tical advertising man, and both in the east and the
west has had experiences in agency work.
Admirable Co-operation of Factory Forces
Makes Possible a Great Season for
Fine Instrument.
The Schiller Super-grand, which has attained a
reputation in the trade for its wonderful tone and
beauty of case design, is in the midst of an unusually
busy holiday period. The demand for the Super-
grand has exceeded expectations by a wide margin,
and only for the broad policies of factory production
instigated early this year by E. B. Jones, president,
the output would be inadequate in supplying the
growing demand.
A steady production scale was introduced by Mr.
Jones that would not be affected by changeable con-
ditions.. During the summer months when pianos
were moving slowly, the production of Schiller in-
struments was not curtailed in any way. The results
of such a far-sighted policy are obvious at this period
when dealers are demanding pianos on short notice.
It also gives the dealers assurance of instruments that
are not hurriedly constructed to meet requirements, a
fact appreciated by those who consider care in con-
struction of great importance in maintaining and
pleasing customers.
Orders for the Super-grand and other styles of
the Schiller line were received from sample orders
sent to dealers in the cities of New York, Brooklyn,
Philadelphia and Birmingham, Ala., a Presto reporter
was told this week at the Chicago office, 209 S. State
street.
BOSTON STORE ENLARGED.
Almou J. Fairbanks, 120 Boylston street, Boston,
has acquired the wareroom space recently occupied
by E. R. Jones in the same building. Part of the
newly acquired space will be given over to storage
and part added to the piano department. A radio
department was recently added by Mr. Fairbanks.
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