October 15, V)27
P R E S T O-T T M E S
W. N. VAN MATRE, JR. HAS
BIG THEATER INTERESTS
In Successful Venture, President of Schumann
Company Is Associated with Vice-
President and Secretary.
The new Coronado Theater, Rockford, 111., which
was opened Sunday, October 9, is the culmination of
one of the most courageous business ventures under-
taken by local capital. The three men, Willard Van
Matre, Jr., Chas. B. Mclntosh and Jas. D. Hurst,
however, the older man capitulated, and smaller quar- respectively president, vice-president and secretary
ters were taken.
of the Schumann Piano Company, who own ninety
Almost at once things began to happen. Credit
per cent of the $1,500,000 theater's stock, are also
uwestigators from various agencies appeared on the heads of a chain of eight theaters valued at $3,000,000.
scene, and there was a slump in business for which
These men were strangers to the theater world
the older man could not account at first.
when, in 1914, they invested $1,C(X) in the lease of
By careful inquiry, though, he determined what
the present Orpheum Theater in Rockford, which
the trouble was. His taking smaller quarters had
had been closed for some time before they decided
given the impression that his business was "slipping,'
to take it over. Immediate success at ended the
and the unwillingness of his customers to be tied up project and soon they were acquiring other theater
with an apparent loser was doing the rest.
properties. The original investment, backed by busi-
After three months in the new place he moved
ness training of the partners, has grown to $3,0-0,000
back into the old one, which had not been rented in in thirteen years.
the meantime. He is at present paying rent on two
Theaters were acquired in Beloit, \\ is., Muscatine.
places, one of which is not occupied. The younger
Iowa, Galesburg, Mattoon and Decatur. 111., as well
man is less anxious to talk efficiency now.
as in Rockford. In 1924 they decided Rockford was
ready for a better theater, and made first announce-
There is a good deal of Indian in all of us. Cus- ment of the new Coronado. Their intention of giv-
tomers do not forget favors or injuries. People for- ing Rockford a wonder theater existed from the first,
but as work progressed consideration of expense
give in a Christian way or Pagan way but when once
deceived by a business house they don't meekly re- was thrown further aside. As a result the building
ongina'ly estimated at $400,000 has cost $1,500,000.
turn and turn the other cheek of the pocket book.
They have affiliated themselves with Publix Thea-
* * *
ters and Great States to assure a steady flow of good
THE RETORT DIRECT
entertainment.
"According to the common belief the Missourian's
Quite in keeping with the usual custom the musical
characteristic is a desire to be shown, to receive in- equipment in these theaters includes Schumann pianos
formation," said Fred J. Base, the well known music for both orchestra and stage concert work and the
trade traveler. "That may be so in a general way, new house will be equipped with three style "M"
but in Missouri you occasionally meet a citizen who Schumann grands.
hands out information in a way that impresses as
well as enlightens."
In company with a Chicago millinery drummer Air.
Base got off a Rock Island train at Eldon, Mo., one
night a few weeks ago. There was something wrong
with the hotel bus, which responded with only a
Pacific Coast Representative of the M. Schulz Gives
wheezy cough to futile kicks at the starter, so at last
they decided to foot it to the hotel. Mr. Base said he
Cheerful Report of Conditions There.
was indifferent to the inconvenience, being unincum-
R.
K.
Maynard, Pacific Coast representative of the
bered except for a light suitcase.
M. Schulz Co., arrived in Chicago this week to attend
"But the millinery salesman," he said, "was mad the convention of the Illinois Music Merchants' As-
enough to bite somebody when we reached the sociation at the Palmer House, from Wednesday to
hostelry after a few detours. He had to lug two Friday. Mr. Maynard attended the noonday lunch-
big valises, heavy with samples of milliners' hard- eon of the Piano Club of Chicago on Monday and the
ware.
annual meeting and dinner at the Blackstone Hotel
" 'Say,' he snapped at Elmer, the grizz'ed old night in (he evening.
clerk, "why in the name of the seventeen bulls of
The active M. Schulz representative gives a cheer-
Bashoo did they build that blankety blank old sta- ing report of the trade conditions in the west and
tion so far from the town?'
the evidences of optimism on the part of the dea'ers
"Elmer eyed his questioner for a minute, reflec- in their eagerness to stock up freely for the fall and
tively rasping his grizzled chin.
winter trade. The western dealers show their pro-
" '1 reckon,' he drawled, "it was because they gressiveness, he says, in the way they are using the
wanted to hcv it clost to the railroad.' "
advertising means provided by the manufacturers
* * *
for the promotion of piano study. The M. Schulz
"There's a man who really enjoys catching the line has the comprehensiveness that interests the deal-
ers and the merits that assure the buyers and for
sound of a jangling old piano."
those reasons the business is daily extending in that
"Maybe his-hearing isn't good?"
prosperous section of the country, was the pleasant
"Perfect. You see he's a piano salesman. In the
statement.
jangle, there's the invitation of opportunity."
THINGS SAID O R SUGGESTED
AIX'T IT AWFUL!
Hear ye the knives a-hacking, the keen blades
slicing free. See ye the axes whacking, the snip of
the snickersee. Oh, the slashing sounds so awful,
that evoke no victim's wail. 'Tis the sacrifice unlaw-
ful, the annual cut-price sale.
Look at the billboard yonder, by the piano store
door. On the grim details just ponder, dwell on the
awful score; the casualties fearful, tell of the havoc
dire, piano prices slaughtered at the fire sale minus
fire.
What is that sound like moaning, the drip of the
tearful brine, sniff of the sad, the groaning, voices
that sol) and whine? Some one regret expresses, list
to the dealer's wail: "Forced to cut all prices in
periodic moving sale."
Queer when the tribe Flapdood'e mourns to slaugh-
ter so. When Bunk and the whole caboodle whine
in crocodile flow. But cheer up, everybody, regret
not the sacrifice, the thumpbox prices cut are high
at the lowest price.
The piano travelers who stretch out a length of six
feet and over when they occupy a hotel bed, always
have had a grievance they were delicate about voic-
ing—the skimpy sheet. "You may have no doubt of
their first appearance after leaving the laundry when
you lie down, but hotel sheets are never sufficiently
long to wrap up one's toes," said a lanky roadman
this week. Now, however, the Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics of the Department of Labor in cooperation
with the American Engineering Standards Committee
is taking steps looking to the formulation of stand-
ard specifications for bed sheets and when they get
through, it is possible another grievance will be
stricken off the irritating list.
* * *
EFFICIENCY
MINUS
The impressive "'front" is as necessary for the man
in business as to the candidate for public office or the
man looking for a job. It is the positive opinion
of a veteran traveler for a prominent manufacturer
of stringed instruments encountered in Chicago this
week. "The grind of experience," be stated, "re-
sults in truer business judgment than the academic
polish of efficiency." The latter was his text for
one of the illustrations for which he is famed in the
trade.
An old jobber of his acquaintance was persuaded
by his son to remove to smaller quarters on the
ground that a rent disproportionate to the size of
the business was being paid. The young man had
recently been graduated from a collegiate school of
business, and, his father thought a lot of his opinion.
At that, however, he did not accept the idea of cut-
ting down his space without a struggle. He real-
ized that the rent really was high where he was,
but he knew that the business had been prosperous
from the time those quarters were taken. Finally
*
••'••
*
BOWEN PIANO LOADER
R. K. MAYNARD MEETS OLD
FRIENDS IN CHICAGO
PS SALESMEN
Outside Salesmen must be equipped so as to "show the goods." The season for country piano selling is approaching. Help your sales-
men by furnishing them with the New Bowen Piano Loader, which serves as a wareroom far from the store. It is the only safe
delivery system for dealers, either in city or country. It costs little. Write for particulars.
BOWEN PIANO LOADER CO.,
Winston-Salem, N. C.
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