Music Trade Review
Issue: 1905 Vol. 41 N. 24 - Page 6
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
TH
6
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
EDWARD LYMAN BILL, - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorial Staff:
<1K<). I'». K K I . I . K U .
1,. 10. I i n w r . i i s .
W . N. T Y I . K K .
\Y.\i. H. W I I I T K .
F . l l . TIKPJII'SIIN.
KMII.II:
L . .f. CiiAMUKki.iN.
F K A N C K S ] ! . \ I I:K.
A. .1. X H K I . I N .
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAGO OFFICE:
1-',. 1". VAX IIAUI.IXCKX. 1 :Ui2 Monadnoek Block.
TKI.KI-IHIXKK : Iliirrlsnii 1.">.>1 ; Automatic U004.
PHILADELPHIA OFFICE: MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL: ST. LOUIS OFFICE:
KI:NI:ST
I.. \ V . \ i r r ,
1?:! T r c i n o n t St.
K. \V. K A I I I ' M A N .
I-; ( ' T I I H U K V
( ' H A S . N . VAX I'.IKK.W
SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE:
AI.I-HI:I> M C T Z O K U . 4^.1-4^7 F r o n t S t .
CINCINNATI, O.:
NINA
I'IOII-SMITH.
Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York
Entered at the New York Post Office as SeccnJ Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION, (Including postage), United States, Mexico, and Canada, .fii.OO per
year: all other countries. $4.on.
ADVERTISEMENTS, •Sli.nii per inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount is allowed. Advertising rages. $.~iiUKi ; opposite
reading matter, :<7.">.
I.vmaii Hill.
Directory of Piano
The directory of piano manufacturing linns and corporation.^
found on another page will he of great, value, as a referetici
Manufacturers l o | . ,i,.nlers and others.
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE NUMCCR 1745 GRAMERCY
NEW
Y ORK,
DECEMBER 1 6 ,
1905
EDITORIAL
S Christmas approaches the retail trade becomes accentuated
and manufacturers everywhere are doing their; utmost to
supply the needs of their representatives. A good many orders
will be carried over to the new year, for it will be impossible for
the piano men to supply the demands which are being made upon
them.
1905, counting from the early fall, has been a period of unpre-
cedented activity, and the holiday season so near at hand will find
business men everywhere in a mood to take off their hats and echo
the sentiment that Christmas brings abundant blessings of all kinds.
One need not telegraph near or far to hear good tidings of business
joy humming over the wires. T h e message is charged into the
atmosphere about us, as electricity sparkles and tingles in the rare
frost bitten airs of winter. The faces of business men are bright,
the greetings that they give each other are optimistic. There may
have been years for mourning", but 1905 will not be numbered among
them. Good crops, splendid sales, debts paid off, and work for all
who are willing to work and good pay! for those that earn it are the
tokens by 1 which we measure the performance of 1905, and the
promises offered \\% by the year that is to come.
Of course there will be a slowing down after the holidays; we
expect that, but there is every indication of the year opening in bril-
liant form, for there is no cloud discernible on the horizon.
A
S
OME have estimated, the output for the year to approximate
two hundred thousand pianos,' stating, in this connection, that
it will be the largest yearly output in the history/ of the trade.
This is wholly incorrect and misleading, as it gives a false im-
pression of the magnitude of this industry. We have produced in
a single year considerably more than two hundred thousand pianos.
and the output for 1905 will approximate 230,000 instruments.
This may seem to some an extravagant statement, but we are
inclined to believe that before the closing of the year it will prove
a conservative estimate. 1905 will rank from every standpoint as
the banner year in piano trade history.
P
ROFITS, that is, manufacturers' profits, will be materially les-
sened on account of the increased cost, varying from twelve
to twenty per cent, advance in the cost of manufacturing. There is
no possible hope that there will be an immediate decrease in any
particular. We must therefore face the present situation regarding
prices as one which will be liable to endure for some time, conse-
REVIEW
quently all business enterprises must be adjusted to conditions which
confront them. Manufacturers will receive more for their instru-
ments in 1905 than they did during the past year. Some of them
did not hesitate to advance prices and dealers recognizing the cor-
rectness of their position did not demur at a reasonable marking up
and it was easy, too, for the dealers to get more.
T
H E R E will be a joint meeting of the executive committees rep-
resenting the manufacturers' and dealers' associations, which
will meet in New York some time in January. Important matters
will be brought up for consideration, and it is presumed that some
action will be taken regarding the proposed piano exhibit in Wash-
ington. Some of the dealers feel that a trade exhibition there will
be an incentive for members to attend. I>ut there are others who
feel that an exposition where a number of pianos are to to be exhib-
ited on the same floor in close proximity would prove unprofitable
from a business standpoint.
It will also be settled at the joint meeting whether the manu-
facturers will hold their convention in Washington during the same
week when the dealers will meet, or whether they will go to West
l'aden, Indiana.
There has strong opposition developed which will probably
result in cutting out the Indiana town, and holding the two meet-
ings in Washington upon dates which will make it possible for mem-
bers of the trade to attend both conventions without inconvenience.
O
NE piano man who controls a number of large retail estab-
lishments remarked to The Review that he had trouble in
securing good salesmen. ()thers have remarked along similar lines
and it is a generally admitted fact that efficient salesmen are diffi-
cult to find.
( )ne reason for this may be due to the fact that the good man
is never looking for a position, a position is seeking him. This holds
good in both the retail and wholesale departments.
There are some well-known establishments that are endeavor-
ing to make this salesman famine an impossibility by inaugurating
a custom of holding conference meetings in which the conditions
prevailing in these particular stores are discussed. The managers
make suggestions, methods are taken up and analyzed, the salesmen
are invited to take an active part and tell frankly their own ideas
of weakness that exist in the stock management or service.
T
J1IS plan is a splendid one, and it has always been a feature of
some of the successful mercantile establishments in America.
]t forms a basis of helpfulness that enthuses the salesmen and spurs
them to extra effort until it is time for another meeting. In short,
a good manager can increase the productive capacity of his staff by
this line of work, for many salesmen would gladly do better work
if they knew how to accomplish it. A system that gives knowledge
to an employe is a good system.
Jos. T. Leimert, the retail manager of the Cable Company of
Chicago, in a recent article in Salesmanship, a well-known magazine,
said :
To keep a sales organization on a hundred per cent, basis of ex-
cellence and efficiency requires : first, perfect harmony ; second, fre-
quent meetings on a perfect social level between the members of the
organization; third, a thorough knowledge, on the part of all the
men, of the. wares which their house sells, as well as the wares sold
by its competitors.
To accomplish the latter aim the writer's plan is to have a bi-
monthly meeting of all members of the sales department and all can-
didates.
At each meeting a different make of piano or organ or piano-
player is to be sold, in theory, to a salesman in the role of a pur-
chaser, by a salesman who has made a study of the selling points
of the instrument in question. A stenographer takes a verbatim
report of the evening, and all the other salesmen and candidates
present report their impression, privately. These reports are turned
over to the salesmanager, who selects from them all the material
that is good, and arranges it in correct form to be printed, as a
regular lesson on the article sold.
There should be such a les$on in regard to every different in-
strument which the house has for sale, and, as far as possible, every
instrument sold by competitors. The candidate is required to know
these lessons thoroughly, and to have studied the wares of his house,
in the course of their construction, before passing the examination
which will admit him to the sales department.
TH
6
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
EDWARD LYMAN BILL, - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorial Staff:
<1K<). I'». K K I . I . K U .
1,. 10. I i n w r . i i s .
W . N. T Y I . K K .
\Y.\i. H. W I I I T K .
F . l l . TIKPJII'SIIN.
KMII.II:
L . .f. CiiAMUKki.iN.
F K A N C K S ] ! . \ I I:K.
A. .1. X H K I . I N .
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAGO OFFICE:
1-',. 1". VAX IIAUI.IXCKX. 1 :Ui2 Monadnoek Block.
TKI.KI-IHIXKK : Iliirrlsnii 1.">.>1 ; Automatic U004.
PHILADELPHIA OFFICE: MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL: ST. LOUIS OFFICE:
KI:NI:ST
I.. \ V . \ i r r ,
1?:! T r c i n o n t St.
K. \V. K A I I I ' M A N .
I-; ( ' T I I H U K V
( ' H A S . N . VAX I'.IKK.W
SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE:
AI.I-HI:I> M C T Z O K U . 4^.1-4^7 F r o n t S t .
CINCINNATI, O.:
NINA
I'IOII-SMITH.
Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York
Entered at the New York Post Office as SeccnJ Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION, (Including postage), United States, Mexico, and Canada, .fii.OO per
year: all other countries. $4.on.
ADVERTISEMENTS, •Sli.nii per inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount is allowed. Advertising rages. $.~iiUKi ; opposite
reading matter, :<7.">.
I.vmaii Hill.
Directory of Piano
The directory of piano manufacturing linns and corporation.^
found on another page will he of great, value, as a referetici
Manufacturers l o | . ,i,.nlers and others.
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE NUMCCR 1745 GRAMERCY
NEW
Y ORK,
DECEMBER 1 6 ,
1905
EDITORIAL
S Christmas approaches the retail trade becomes accentuated
and manufacturers everywhere are doing their; utmost to
supply the needs of their representatives. A good many orders
will be carried over to the new year, for it will be impossible for
the piano men to supply the demands which are being made upon
them.
1905, counting from the early fall, has been a period of unpre-
cedented activity, and the holiday season so near at hand will find
business men everywhere in a mood to take off their hats and echo
the sentiment that Christmas brings abundant blessings of all kinds.
One need not telegraph near or far to hear good tidings of business
joy humming over the wires. T h e message is charged into the
atmosphere about us, as electricity sparkles and tingles in the rare
frost bitten airs of winter. The faces of business men are bright,
the greetings that they give each other are optimistic. There may
have been years for mourning", but 1905 will not be numbered among
them. Good crops, splendid sales, debts paid off, and work for all
who are willing to work and good pay! for those that earn it are the
tokens by 1 which we measure the performance of 1905, and the
promises offered \\% by the year that is to come.
Of course there will be a slowing down after the holidays; we
expect that, but there is every indication of the year opening in bril-
liant form, for there is no cloud discernible on the horizon.
A
S
OME have estimated, the output for the year to approximate
two hundred thousand pianos,' stating, in this connection, that
it will be the largest yearly output in the history/ of the trade.
This is wholly incorrect and misleading, as it gives a false im-
pression of the magnitude of this industry. We have produced in
a single year considerably more than two hundred thousand pianos.
and the output for 1905 will approximate 230,000 instruments.
This may seem to some an extravagant statement, but we are
inclined to believe that before the closing of the year it will prove
a conservative estimate. 1905 will rank from every standpoint as
the banner year in piano trade history.
P
ROFITS, that is, manufacturers' profits, will be materially les-
sened on account of the increased cost, varying from twelve
to twenty per cent, advance in the cost of manufacturing. There is
no possible hope that there will be an immediate decrease in any
particular. We must therefore face the present situation regarding
prices as one which will be liable to endure for some time, conse-
REVIEW
quently all business enterprises must be adjusted to conditions which
confront them. Manufacturers will receive more for their instru-
ments in 1905 than they did during the past year. Some of them
did not hesitate to advance prices and dealers recognizing the cor-
rectness of their position did not demur at a reasonable marking up
and it was easy, too, for the dealers to get more.
T
H E R E will be a joint meeting of the executive committees rep-
resenting the manufacturers' and dealers' associations, which
will meet in New York some time in January. Important matters
will be brought up for consideration, and it is presumed that some
action will be taken regarding the proposed piano exhibit in Wash-
ington. Some of the dealers feel that a trade exhibition there will
be an incentive for members to attend. I>ut there are others who
feel that an exposition where a number of pianos are to to be exhib-
ited on the same floor in close proximity would prove unprofitable
from a business standpoint.
It will also be settled at the joint meeting whether the manu-
facturers will hold their convention in Washington during the same
week when the dealers will meet, or whether they will go to West
l'aden, Indiana.
There has strong opposition developed which will probably
result in cutting out the Indiana town, and holding the two meet-
ings in Washington upon dates which will make it possible for mem-
bers of the trade to attend both conventions without inconvenience.
O
NE piano man who controls a number of large retail estab-
lishments remarked to The Review that he had trouble in
securing good salesmen. ()thers have remarked along similar lines
and it is a generally admitted fact that efficient salesmen are diffi-
cult to find.
( )ne reason for this may be due to the fact that the good man
is never looking for a position, a position is seeking him. This holds
good in both the retail and wholesale departments.
There are some well-known establishments that are endeavor-
ing to make this salesman famine an impossibility by inaugurating
a custom of holding conference meetings in which the conditions
prevailing in these particular stores are discussed. The managers
make suggestions, methods are taken up and analyzed, the salesmen
are invited to take an active part and tell frankly their own ideas
of weakness that exist in the stock management or service.
T
J1IS plan is a splendid one, and it has always been a feature of
some of the successful mercantile establishments in America.
]t forms a basis of helpfulness that enthuses the salesmen and spurs
them to extra effort until it is time for another meeting. In short,
a good manager can increase the productive capacity of his staff by
this line of work, for many salesmen would gladly do better work
if they knew how to accomplish it. A system that gives knowledge
to an employe is a good system.
Jos. T. Leimert, the retail manager of the Cable Company of
Chicago, in a recent article in Salesmanship, a well-known magazine,
said :
To keep a sales organization on a hundred per cent, basis of ex-
cellence and efficiency requires : first, perfect harmony ; second, fre-
quent meetings on a perfect social level between the members of the
organization; third, a thorough knowledge, on the part of all the
men, of the. wares which their house sells, as well as the wares sold
by its competitors.
To accomplish the latter aim the writer's plan is to have a bi-
monthly meeting of all members of the sales department and all can-
didates.
At each meeting a different make of piano or organ or piano-
player is to be sold, in theory, to a salesman in the role of a pur-
chaser, by a salesman who has made a study of the selling points
of the instrument in question. A stenographer takes a verbatim
report of the evening, and all the other salesmen and candidates
present report their impression, privately. These reports are turned
over to the salesmanager, who selects from them all the material
that is good, and arranges it in correct form to be printed, as a
regular lesson on the article sold.
There should be such a les$on in regard to every different in-
strument which the house has for sale, and, as far as possible, every
instrument sold by competitors. The candidate is required to know
these lessons thoroughly, and to have studied the wares of his house,
in the course of their construction, before passing the examination
which will admit him to the sales department.
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).