Music Trade Review

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THE
MUSIC TRADE
SINGLE
COPIES, 10 CENTS.
bl
VOL. LV. No. 25. Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at 373 Fourth Ave., New York, Dec. 21,1912
iloo PER VEAIL
CANNING the recent advertising put forth by the great retail houses of America it occurs to me
that the average reader would figure that this country has gone bargain mad, and it would seem
' that the interests of trade in every line are to a certain extent menaced by the practice now so
general of a continuous holding of special sales and of the daily offering of goods at what are
claimed to be cut prices, accompanied in many cases by price comparisons which are insincere, mis-
leading and untrue.
The people of this country have been fed on this bargain pabulum to such an extent that they
clamor for it. An appetite has been created so that without supplying this demand the ad writers of
the country feel that they are giving readers a very scant meal. Hence they must put in some sort
of an alluring announcement, including a cut- price for a day or for a week, as the case may be.
The question is, and it is a very serious one, whether or not there is going to be a reaction upon
the retail trade everywhere by the constant bargain offerings.
One fundamental question comes to me—can business be healthy when it is forced to rely upon
special sales for increased patronage?
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If the bargain offerings are real and genuine can a store make any money while conducting them?
Admitted that one of the points desired by the advertiser is to increase the record of sales; but if
this is done at the expense of profits where is the gain?
The selling of any kind of merchandise at a loss of profit is mighty poor business.
I question, too, whether many people who engage in these bargain offerings figure how greatly
their expenses increase during a bargain sale. It means larger advertising bills and greater expenses
entailed in other ways. Would not all of the meFchandise offered at reduced prices be sold in the regu-
lar way at good profits if the bargain sales and special offerings were eliminated?
It might be said that we are all influenced by conditions. While some merchants have until re-
cently refrained from engaging in bargain offerings they have succumbed at last under pressure, feel-
ing that they could not hold back from following the lines pursued by their competitors, and in their
frantic efforts to increase sales they rush in and make even greater cuts than their fiercest competitors.
This is a subject which interests every merchant in America, whether he sells pianos or peanuts; and,
if the country is forcing the bargain offerings up to a point where it is unwise and will react upon mer-
chants everywhere, then it certainly is quite time to call a halt.
Bargains are all right in themselves, and in many cases it is possible to offer inducements that are
both legitimate and genuine; but to make bargains the foundation upon which to build a business is
not, to my mind, building wisely.
Take many of the largest stores in New York: they put forth advertising matter simply to delude
the purchaser; they issue statements which are glaringly untrue. One of the many evils in this bargain
situation is the exaggeration of values.
Some stores sell their goods at fair values, but claim in their advertising campaign that the value is
at least one-half more than the cut prices.
I do not know how this whole thing is going to end, but the continual parading of bargains in
newspaper columns to my mind constitutes a great menace to the business security of the future.
It seems to me that there are many things which can be done in the way of reform which would aid
the .situation.
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(Continued on page 5.)