Music Trade Review
Issue: 1906 Vol. 43 N. 17 - Page 3
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
fflJJIC TRADE
VOL. XLIII. No. 17. Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at I Madison Ave., New York, October 27,1906.
MAKING WAREROOMS ATTRACTIVE.
One of the Best Paying Investments a Dealer
Can Make Is to Spend Some Extra Money
on Beautifying His Warerooms and Ren-
dering the Display of His Stock More At-
tractive and Inviting to Visitors.
A lesson in the arrangement of stock to the
best advantage would not be amiss with many
dealers in pianos and musical goods of various
kinds. Because pianos are large, and occupy
considerable space is no reason why they should
be arranged in stiff-looking rows with nothing
to relieve their severe appearance. Arranged
in groups with small tables, comfortable chairs
and settees, as well as a few palms scattered
about, the piano stock can be made as attractive
as any form of merchandise.
A dealer, the plainness of whose warerooms
was commented upon, recently made the remark
that people came into the store to "look at and
buy pianos, not to look at the scenery." No
more mistaken idea can be entertained in that
connection. True, the primary object is the
purchase of a piano, but environment has a sur-
prising influence upon a prospective buyer.
The more comfortable a person is the more their
mind may be concentrated upon a subject, there-
by enabling the salesman to get in his fine work
and close a sale.
Take the large piano warerooms in New York
or other cities. Separate rooms are provided
for customers and everything done to make them
feel at ease. Thousands of dollars are spent in
decorations and furnishings, simply to form at-
tractive surroundings for the stock of pianos,
and the amount is considered as being well in-
vested.
If equal results were obtainable with a per-
fectly plain showroom it is only reasonable to
suppose that the directors would pocket the sur-
plus expense as extra profit on their investment.
No better argument can be found in favor of
the wareroom beautiful, however, than a prac-
tical demonstration of its effect. If the doubt-
ing dealer referred to would go, for instance,
on a little tour of inspection, say, among a num-
ber of haberdasheries, and stuay the effect of
the different arrangements of stock, he would
be surprised at the result, and without a doubt
decide that he wanted really attractive ware-
rooms himself. First, he would go into an ordi-
nary shop where the neckties were bunched to-
gether in a showcase without any particular
arrangement, the cases of the old-style wooden
type in need of varnishing, shirts and other
articles hung at random from convenient fix-
tures, and he would not feel inclined to stop
and look over the illy-arranged stock. When,
however, he goes into the up-to-date store. When,
fixtures were attractive, stock arranged con-
veniently and orderly, and the store well lighted
throughout, he feels at ease, the surroundings
please him, and he does not desire to take his
purchase and rush out, but feels an inclination
to investigate the newest in scarfs and fancy
shirts or other articles, often to the extent of in-
vesting to an extent exceeding his original pur-
chase many times.
What induces a man to linger and buy in the
stores he frequents will make both sexes willing
to enter piano warerooms and stay awhile, giv-
ing the salesman additional opportunity to talk
and incidentally close the sale. Comfort and
cheerfulness may add a trifle to the expense side
of the ledger, but the corresponding additions
to the profit side will be many times greater in
consequence.
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS.
$8.00 PER YEAR.
president (manager Nashville house): George J.
Dowling, secretary; W. S. Christian, treasurer.
This annual meeting was held on the 23d an-
niversary of the establishment of the Memphis
house. Charles W. Brainard continues as man-
ager of the St. Louis house, and C. E. Jordan as
manager of the Chattanooga house.
STARR WITH KURZENKNABE.
PROSPERITYJN THE WEST.
Graphically Described by a Transplanted West-
erner Who Says Every Farm House Has a
Piano and Piano Player—Luxuries of the
Day to be Found on Every Hand.
"If you haven't been out West recently," said
a transplanted Westerner, in the course of a chat
in New York this week, "you can't begin to real-
ize how prosperous the people are. In the Pull-
man cars you meet large families wholly unaccus-
tomed to their luxury. The man, perhaps, will
wear no collar, because a collar is an uncom-
fortable article of dress for a man who for forty
years hag been unable to afford it, and the wife
and children will be dressed for comfort rather
than show, but when you find them in the dining
car at meal time you discover that money is no
object. They go through the bill of fare without
any thought of the cost. Two years ago you
would have found these folks in the day coach
dining out of a basket from home. Three or
four years ago the neighbors around my place
had to scratch hard to get a bare living. They
would fish the lake all winter, through the ice,
and send the fish to market at Butte because they
needed the money. Now those same folks are
buying and building launches to race on that
lake. Do they fish any more? Well, hardly.
They don't need the money. The price of fish
has gone up at Butte. Every farmhouse has a
piano. Every other one has a pianola besides.
Anything that the 'old woman' can think of she
gets. It seems to me they lie awake nights to
think of things they want. They buy expensive
flags to put over their houses. The contrast be-
tween this prosperity and the pinching condi-
tions of only three or four years ago makes
me fear I'm dreaming. These folks think it will
last always. There's nothing they can see that's
going to stop it."
0. K. HOUCK CO. ELECT OFFICERS.
(Special to The Hevlew.)
Review Office, 195 Wabash avenue,
Chicago, 111., Oct. 20, 1906.
The annual stockholders' meeting of the O.
K. Houck Piano Co. was held at the company's
office in Chicago on October 17, 1906, when the
following directors were elected to serve for the
ensuing year: George J. Dowling, Chicago; Chas.
W. Brainard, St. Louis; Olney Davies, Nash-
ville; Jesse French Houck, Little Rock; John C.
Houck, O. K. Houck, Jesse Houck Dunlap, F. E.
Miles, W. S. Christian, Memphis.
, • . .
The following officers were then elected: O. K.
Houck, president; Jesse French Houck, first
vice-president (manager Little Rock house) ;
Jesse Houck Dunlap, second vice-president (man-
ager Memphis house); Olney-Davies, third vice-
The Starr Piano Co.'s agency in Harrisburg,
Pa., has been placed with J. H. Kurzenknabe
Co., who also handle the Strich & Zeidler pianos.
This same firm were agents for the Starr over a
decade ago.
HALLER MUSIC CO. INCORPORATED.
The Haller Music Co., of Blair, has been in-
corporated with the Secretary of the State of
Nebraska, with a capital stock of $6,250. The
incorporators are: S. E. Kemp, E. H. Stewart
and C. L. Bowerman.
NEW CONCERN IN WATERLOO, IA.
F. Van Buhl, connected with the Smith &
Nixon Piano Manufacturing Co., of Cincinnati,
O., as wholesale representative, has made ar-
rangements to go into partnership with Mr. Tay-
lor, of Taylor & Strobel, Waterloo, la., and the
new firm will be known as the Van Buhl & Tay-
lor Piano Co., as Mr. Strobel has retired from the
business. Mr. Van Buhl will give up his road
work entirely.
THE MICHIGAN MUSIC CO.
The Michigan Music Co., the new concern
formed by J. A. Wans and A. A. Newton, with
a store at 220 Woodward avenue, Detroit, has
taken on the Ann Arbor Organ Co.'s line, with
the Henderson piano as a leader, and a large
stock of these instruments have already been re-
ceived and placed in the warerooms.
ADDITION TO LEHR & CO. PLANT.
An 80 by 40-foot addition to the piano factory
of H. Lehr & Co., Easton, Pa., has just been com-
pleted and put into commission as the increased
space thus afforded was badly needed to enable
the company to keep up with the orders for
their pianos.
MARTIN OPENS AGAIN.
C. H. Martin, who failed in the piano business
in Akron, O., some lime ago, has re-entered the
field under the title of E. J. Martin, with a store
at 24 West Market street. His line includes the
Becker Bros, and Ropelt & Sons pianos.
B. F. HARBAUGH'S NEW QUARTERS.
B. . F. Harbaugh, who formerly had a music
store on Main street, Akron, O., has moved his
stock of instruments to his residence on West
Market street, where he has fitted up a beautiful
piano parlor and studio. Mr. Harbaugh han-
dles the A. B. Chase, Ludwig and Packard lines
of pianos.
THE
fflJJIC TRADE
VOL. XLIII. No. 17. Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at I Madison Ave., New York, October 27,1906.
MAKING WAREROOMS ATTRACTIVE.
One of the Best Paying Investments a Dealer
Can Make Is to Spend Some Extra Money
on Beautifying His Warerooms and Ren-
dering the Display of His Stock More At-
tractive and Inviting to Visitors.
A lesson in the arrangement of stock to the
best advantage would not be amiss with many
dealers in pianos and musical goods of various
kinds. Because pianos are large, and occupy
considerable space is no reason why they should
be arranged in stiff-looking rows with nothing
to relieve their severe appearance. Arranged
in groups with small tables, comfortable chairs
and settees, as well as a few palms scattered
about, the piano stock can be made as attractive
as any form of merchandise.
A dealer, the plainness of whose warerooms
was commented upon, recently made the remark
that people came into the store to "look at and
buy pianos, not to look at the scenery." No
more mistaken idea can be entertained in that
connection. True, the primary object is the
purchase of a piano, but environment has a sur-
prising influence upon a prospective buyer.
The more comfortable a person is the more their
mind may be concentrated upon a subject, there-
by enabling the salesman to get in his fine work
and close a sale.
Take the large piano warerooms in New York
or other cities. Separate rooms are provided
for customers and everything done to make them
feel at ease. Thousands of dollars are spent in
decorations and furnishings, simply to form at-
tractive surroundings for the stock of pianos,
and the amount is considered as being well in-
vested.
If equal results were obtainable with a per-
fectly plain showroom it is only reasonable to
suppose that the directors would pocket the sur-
plus expense as extra profit on their investment.
No better argument can be found in favor of
the wareroom beautiful, however, than a prac-
tical demonstration of its effect. If the doubt-
ing dealer referred to would go, for instance,
on a little tour of inspection, say, among a num-
ber of haberdasheries, and stuay the effect of
the different arrangements of stock, he would
be surprised at the result, and without a doubt
decide that he wanted really attractive ware-
rooms himself. First, he would go into an ordi-
nary shop where the neckties were bunched to-
gether in a showcase without any particular
arrangement, the cases of the old-style wooden
type in need of varnishing, shirts and other
articles hung at random from convenient fix-
tures, and he would not feel inclined to stop
and look over the illy-arranged stock. When,
however, he goes into the up-to-date store. When,
fixtures were attractive, stock arranged con-
veniently and orderly, and the store well lighted
throughout, he feels at ease, the surroundings
please him, and he does not desire to take his
purchase and rush out, but feels an inclination
to investigate the newest in scarfs and fancy
shirts or other articles, often to the extent of in-
vesting to an extent exceeding his original pur-
chase many times.
What induces a man to linger and buy in the
stores he frequents will make both sexes willing
to enter piano warerooms and stay awhile, giv-
ing the salesman additional opportunity to talk
and incidentally close the sale. Comfort and
cheerfulness may add a trifle to the expense side
of the ledger, but the corresponding additions
to the profit side will be many times greater in
consequence.
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS.
$8.00 PER YEAR.
president (manager Nashville house): George J.
Dowling, secretary; W. S. Christian, treasurer.
This annual meeting was held on the 23d an-
niversary of the establishment of the Memphis
house. Charles W. Brainard continues as man-
ager of the St. Louis house, and C. E. Jordan as
manager of the Chattanooga house.
STARR WITH KURZENKNABE.
PROSPERITYJN THE WEST.
Graphically Described by a Transplanted West-
erner Who Says Every Farm House Has a
Piano and Piano Player—Luxuries of the
Day to be Found on Every Hand.
"If you haven't been out West recently," said
a transplanted Westerner, in the course of a chat
in New York this week, "you can't begin to real-
ize how prosperous the people are. In the Pull-
man cars you meet large families wholly unaccus-
tomed to their luxury. The man, perhaps, will
wear no collar, because a collar is an uncom-
fortable article of dress for a man who for forty
years hag been unable to afford it, and the wife
and children will be dressed for comfort rather
than show, but when you find them in the dining
car at meal time you discover that money is no
object. They go through the bill of fare without
any thought of the cost. Two years ago you
would have found these folks in the day coach
dining out of a basket from home. Three or
four years ago the neighbors around my place
had to scratch hard to get a bare living. They
would fish the lake all winter, through the ice,
and send the fish to market at Butte because they
needed the money. Now those same folks are
buying and building launches to race on that
lake. Do they fish any more? Well, hardly.
They don't need the money. The price of fish
has gone up at Butte. Every farmhouse has a
piano. Every other one has a pianola besides.
Anything that the 'old woman' can think of she
gets. It seems to me they lie awake nights to
think of things they want. They buy expensive
flags to put over their houses. The contrast be-
tween this prosperity and the pinching condi-
tions of only three or four years ago makes
me fear I'm dreaming. These folks think it will
last always. There's nothing they can see that's
going to stop it."
0. K. HOUCK CO. ELECT OFFICERS.
(Special to The Hevlew.)
Review Office, 195 Wabash avenue,
Chicago, 111., Oct. 20, 1906.
The annual stockholders' meeting of the O.
K. Houck Piano Co. was held at the company's
office in Chicago on October 17, 1906, when the
following directors were elected to serve for the
ensuing year: George J. Dowling, Chicago; Chas.
W. Brainard, St. Louis; Olney Davies, Nash-
ville; Jesse French Houck, Little Rock; John C.
Houck, O. K. Houck, Jesse Houck Dunlap, F. E.
Miles, W. S. Christian, Memphis.
, • . .
The following officers were then elected: O. K.
Houck, president; Jesse French Houck, first
vice-president (manager Little Rock house) ;
Jesse Houck Dunlap, second vice-president (man-
ager Memphis house); Olney-Davies, third vice-
The Starr Piano Co.'s agency in Harrisburg,
Pa., has been placed with J. H. Kurzenknabe
Co., who also handle the Strich & Zeidler pianos.
This same firm were agents for the Starr over a
decade ago.
HALLER MUSIC CO. INCORPORATED.
The Haller Music Co., of Blair, has been in-
corporated with the Secretary of the State of
Nebraska, with a capital stock of $6,250. The
incorporators are: S. E. Kemp, E. H. Stewart
and C. L. Bowerman.
NEW CONCERN IN WATERLOO, IA.
F. Van Buhl, connected with the Smith &
Nixon Piano Manufacturing Co., of Cincinnati,
O., as wholesale representative, has made ar-
rangements to go into partnership with Mr. Tay-
lor, of Taylor & Strobel, Waterloo, la., and the
new firm will be known as the Van Buhl & Tay-
lor Piano Co., as Mr. Strobel has retired from the
business. Mr. Van Buhl will give up his road
work entirely.
THE MICHIGAN MUSIC CO.
The Michigan Music Co., the new concern
formed by J. A. Wans and A. A. Newton, with
a store at 220 Woodward avenue, Detroit, has
taken on the Ann Arbor Organ Co.'s line, with
the Henderson piano as a leader, and a large
stock of these instruments have already been re-
ceived and placed in the warerooms.
ADDITION TO LEHR & CO. PLANT.
An 80 by 40-foot addition to the piano factory
of H. Lehr & Co., Easton, Pa., has just been com-
pleted and put into commission as the increased
space thus afforded was badly needed to enable
the company to keep up with the orders for
their pianos.
MARTIN OPENS AGAIN.
C. H. Martin, who failed in the piano business
in Akron, O., some lime ago, has re-entered the
field under the title of E. J. Martin, with a store
at 24 West Market street. His line includes the
Becker Bros, and Ropelt & Sons pianos.
B. F. HARBAUGH'S NEW QUARTERS.
B. . F. Harbaugh, who formerly had a music
store on Main street, Akron, O., has moved his
stock of instruments to his residence on West
Market street, where he has fitted up a beautiful
piano parlor and studio. Mr. Harbaugh han-
dles the A. B. Chase, Ludwig and Packard lines
of pianos.
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).