Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRKDE
DEALERS' VIEWS ON TRADE CONDITIONS.
A Fifth Instalment of the Opinions of Leading Members of the Trade Regarding Subjects Which are of
Vital Interest to the Industry—Some Interesting Views—The Outlook Most Encouraging—More Pianos
Will be Sold Than in 1902—Condition of Stock—What the Association Should Take Up.
E v e r y manufacturer and every dealer is interested in the trade possibilities of
the p r e s e n t year. T h e y also will be glad to know the opinions of l e a d i n g dealers
in widely separated localities r e g a r d i n g important trade topics. W e have t h e r e -
fore presented the questions which appear below to h u n d r e d s of the best known
piano m e n in America.
D u r i n g the past five weeks we have presented h u n d r e d s
of these communications and this week w e present some more replies which
are fairly representative of the whole.
In your opinion how many more pianos were sold in your locality in 1902 than 1901 ?
About what was the average sale* price for the past year?
What per cent, was sold at less than $300.00?
What kind of terms would you estimate were generally made?
Have not retail piano methods materially improved in your vicinage?
Will there be an increase in sales this year over 1902?
Has the music trade ever been in healthier condition in your locality than at present?
Do you figure that the department store will cut any figure at a distributing factor in your locality?
Are pianos of indefinite (stencil) origin sold in appreciable numbers in your city?
What in your opinion is the greatest single question that the Dealers National Association can take up for
trade betterment?
JULIUS A. J. FRIEDRICH, Grand Rapids, Mich.
The average price paid for pianos the
past year, including new and second-hand,
was $243.15, and seventy per cent, was sold
for less than $300 and a large majority was
sold on time.
I am pleased to know that the methods used
by the retail piano men have much improved
and business is conducted more upon busi-
ness lines and business dignity. It is my
honest impression and belief that there will
be no increase of business this year over
1902.
Past records will go to show that ap-
proaching campaigns years business de-
creases rather than increases.
It is my great pleasure to say that the mu-
sic trade is in a healthier condition to-day
than it ever has been since my connection
with the trade. Department stores in this
locality have cut but little figure and I do
not regard them as being dangerous in any
great degree, as purchasers of pianos who
buy in the department stores would not go
to a legitimate music house and purchase a
standard make of piano; hence I look upon
them with little importance.
My stock is in better condition to-day at
the present writing than it has been in years
past. I regret to say there has been a num-
ber of stenciled pianos sold in this city, but
they are, as a rule, not sold upon legitimate
lines.
YOHN BROS., Harrisburg, Pa.
In your opinion how many more pianos
were sold in your locality in 1902 than in
1901 ? Ten per cent.
About what was the average sales price
for the past year ? $275 or $300.
What per cent, was sold at less than $300?
Forty per cent.
What kind of terms would you estimate
were generally made? Forty per cent.
Have not retail piano methods materially
improved in your vicinage? No.
Will there be an increase in sales this year
over 1902? Don't think so.
Has the music trade ever been in health-
ier condition in your locality than at pres-
ent? No, it has not.
Do you figure that the department store
will cut any figure as a distributing factor in
your locality? Not interfered with us.
Are pianos of indefinite (stencil) origin
sold in appreciable numbers in your city?
No.
C. A. REED MUSIC HOUSE, Anderson, S. C.
Replying to your various propositions,
which are arrived at more especially from
my own experience, will say that there were
about twenty more pianos sold during the
year 1902 than the previous year, and the
average sale price was about $300. I should
judge that fifty per cent, of them were sold
for less than $300. As to terms, only about
five per cent, were sold for cash, about fifty
per cent, on instalments, with $20 to $25
cash and $8 to $10 per month. The remaining
forty-five per cent, was sold for notes pay-
able in, say twelve and twenty-four months.
I do not think that retail piano methods
have improved in this section. We hope to
see an increased business during the present
year, as conditions are rather more favorable
throughout this section. My stock was some-
what less the beginning of this year than for-
merly, owing to a larger holiday trade. Sten-
ciled pianos are not sold to any large extent
throughout this section. I think that the
Dealers' Association would not do better than
to give special attention to the one-price sys-
tem and "weeding out" of irresponsible deal-
ers.
I often think of the pleasant circumstances
under which we met in Baltimore last May,
and if you should have occasion to visit
South Carolina I would be pleased to have
you call and see me.
CARLIN & LENNOX, Indianapolis, Ind.
In your opinion how many more pianos
were sold in your locality in 1902 than in
1901 ? 200.
About what was the average sales price for
the past year? $250.
What per cent, was sold at less than $300 ?
Two-thirds.
What kind of terms would you estimate
were generally made? Average 12 months.
Have not retail piano methods materially
improved in your vicinage ? No.
Will there be an increase in sales this year
over 1902? No.
Has the music trade ever been in health-
ier condition in your locality than at present?
No.
Do you figure that the department store
will cut any figure as a distributing factor
in your locality? No.
Does the condition of your stock compare
favorably with that of January of the past
year ? Same.
Are pianos of indefinite (stencil) origin
sold in appreciable numbers in your city?
Yes.
What in your opinion is the greatest sin-
gle question that the Dealers' National Asso-
ciation can take up for trade betterment?
One of the best things the association can
do is to give the names to all dealers through
the music journals of salesmen who have been
discharged for embezzlement, forgery, or any
crooked business such as making collections
not reported—all such men should be report-
ed to the music journals. There are entirely
too many dead beats in the piano trade who
embezzle or do crooked business for -every
house they work for and these should be
eliminated from the trade, and if the asso-
ciation would make a business of reporting
all such cases openly through the journals
and would make it a rule that no member of
the association could hire such men we would
soon be rid of them.
We have sold this year 100 pianos more
than we did last year. This is due to having
a larger force on the road. Our small goods
trade has also increased $10,000, making a
total increase of $40,000 for the year; next
year will not likely show any improvement.
DAYNES MUSIC CO., Salt Lake City, Utah.
After having given the matter some
thought, will say that we can only express
opinion as to the extent of business that we
have had, and are pleased to give you an es-
timate of about what we have done.
In our opinion the sales for the year of
1902 would exceed that of 1901 by 80 per
cent., and the average price of each instru-
ment, we would judge, to be about $400, a
very small percentage of which were sold
for less than $300, probably not over 15 or
20 per cent. Our general terms for time
sales have been from $25 to $75 down and
$10 per month.
We consider that the" methods for retail
piano business, as far as our business is con-
cerned, is improved and we are very san-
guine as to the outlook for this year. We
do not know of a time when the music trade
has been in a better condition than now.
Every year since we started has been one of
continued improvement. The business for
the last eight years being an increase over
the previous one of from 50 to 100 per cent.
As to the department store feature, we can
not say as to what figure this would cut at
all. We have not given the matter consider-
ation and do not know that we could form
any opinion as to this.
The condition of our stock at the present
time is about what it was a year ago; if any
change, probably better.
We consider that the greatest difficulty at
present to be taken up by the National Piano
Manufacturers' Association would be to get
the dealers generally to be more united in
their methods of business. We have found
that in this trade there are some of the most
contemptible men engaged, and they will
stoop to anything to gain a sale. We con-
sider that when a sale is made, the papers
signed, and the first payment made, that the
competitor should not interfere with the pur-
chaser, or in any way discourage, but we are
sorry to report that we have a number of
dealers in this city who try to gain business
in this way. Another bad feature that we
find in the business is the fact of the dealer
indulging in personalities and trying to sell
his goods by running down that of his neigh-
bor. These methods, we think, can be dis-
pensed with, as we find that they do not pay.
The secret of the great success of our house
has been that we sell our goods on their
merits, and do not enter into any discussion
whatever as to the merits or demerits of the
goods of our competitors.
EILERS PIANO HOUSE, Portland, Ore.
In the State of Washington pretty close
to 5,000 pianos were sold last year, an in-
crease of from 40 to 50 per cent.; Idaho and
Oregon without question got away with a
little over 3,000 pianos and Nevada, Wyom-
ing and California about 11,000. These fig-
ures may be very wide of the mark, but the
writer has been up and down the coast a
good deal during the past year, and does not
believe he is very far from right.
As to what constituted the average sale