Music Trade Review

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52
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
COLUMBIA NEWS BUDGET.
ARTISTIC WINDOW^ DISPLAYS PAY.
Business Conditions in New England—New Mi-
gnonette Popular—Kimball Has Columbia
Agency in Memphis-—Departments Prove
Very Successful—Witt Music Co. Publicity.
Show the Enterprise of the Dealer and Em-
phasize the Standard of the Products
Handled—Schmidt Music Co.'s Good Work.
"Business conditions in New England were
never better," stated H. A. Yerkes, manager of the
wholesale department of the Columbia Grapho-
phone Co., who returned this week from a short
trip through the New England territory. "All lines
of business are prosperous and enthusiastic, and
judging from all indications the next two months'
business will be far in excess of that closed last
year. Our own business in New England is really
remarkable, and as a matter of fact, at the present
time we are more concerned with taking.care of
our present accounts than in opening any new ones.
"The 'New Mignonette' is proving particularly
popular in New England, while the 'Leader' is cer-
tainly living up to its name in this section of the
country. Recitals are being given in and around
Boston featuring the $VH) Colombia 'Grand,' and
these recitals are being fraught .with gratifying
success. Our Springfield st'>r«' recently moved into
larger quarters in order to adequately handle the
demands of its trade."
The W. W. Kimball Co., the well-known piano
house, closed arrangements this week with the Co-
lumbia Co. whereby its Memphis, Tenn., house wiH
handle the complete Columbia line. The Kimball
Co. already has a number of branches featuring the
Columbia products, and these stores are closing an
excellent business in their Columbia departments.
The Witt Music Co., Lorain, O., is advertising
its Columbia department in a vigorous and distinc-
tive manner. Newspaper advertisements present-
ing the selling arguments of the Columbia products
in a clear informative manner are appearing in the
Lorain daily papers, and these advertisements aim
to close sales of Columbia machines and records by
the use of unusual illustrations coupled with these
strong selling talks.
DAVENPORT, I A., November 1.—The Schmidt Mu-
sic Co., of this city, is displaying in its new store
CLEVER VICTOR WINDOW DISPLAY.
at 11 West Third street one of the most attractive
Victrola windows presented for some time. Re-
Victor dealers in all parts of the country are
fined and dignified, the display is calculated to at- featuring with pronounced success the novel win-
tract the attention
of passers-by and to
leave a lasting im-
pression of the value
Y" PIANOS I t
of the Victrola.
As will b; seen by
t h e accompanying
p h o t o g r a p h , the
show window of
the new Schmidt
store affords an ex-
cellent opportunity
for the introduction
oi artistic displays,
and the featuring
of the Victrola ex-
clusively in t li i s
v a l u a b l e display
space "gives a fair
idea of the .esteem
in which the Vic-
Schmidt Piano Co.'s Victrola Window.
trola is held in this section of the State. do\v display recently introduced by the Victor Talk-
In addition to drawing the favorable comments ing Machine Co. This window display, which is an
(jf both the public and the daily press, this Vic- exact reproduction in miniature of the New Amster-
dam Theater, is calculated to hold the attention of
trola display was responsible for the closing of
a number of sales of expensive machines and the passers-by in addition to attracting momentary no-
securing of a "live" list of prospects which will tice, and judging from the photographs received by
the company, the new display certainly fulfills its
be closed in the very near future. The value of
mission of attracting crowds wherever it is pre-
an attractive show window is thoroughly appre-
ciated by the Schmidt Music Co., and the company sented.
is planning the presentation of several artistic and
The New Amsterdam Theatre display is un-
novel window displays in the very near future usually complete in detail and presents the theater
which will rival in novelty and attractiveness the in an ensemble of beautiful coloring. The display
Victrola display shown herewith.
features the stage at the New Amsterdam Theater
with different scenes from the "Merry Widow" and
various signs announcing the scenes shown on the
FOLLOWING UP CUSTOMERS.
stage. Excellent copy featuring Victor records is
Dealers Should Keep a List of People to Whom
displayed on these signs, with a change of copy on
They Have Sold Machines So as to Profit-
each card.
ably Develop Their Record Sales.
Those dealers who have tried out the New Am-
Every dealer undoubtedly keeps a list of all per- sterdam Theater display speak in the highest terms
sons to whom he sells phonographs, but does every of its drawing powers, and state that its really
dealer go over this list carefully every month and beautiful appearance and ability to attract the at-
note the names of any Edison owners who have tention of passers-by is making it one of the most
failed to buy records that month? The mainte- valuable dealer helps ever introduced to the talking
nance of every customer's interest is a vital point machine trade.
in the business, for an idle phonograph in any
home is a poor advertisement for any dealer and
EFFICIENCY AND THE DEALER.
would seriously affect his phonograph sales.
Credit Man Points Out How Parcel Post Aids
If a customer buys only one or two records for
Mail Order Houses and W h y Small Dealers
a month or more it is no cause for alarm, but if he
Must Be Equipped to Meet This Competition.
fails to buy any for a month, then it is up to the
dealer to get into immediate communication with
The extension of the facilities of the parcel post
that man. If possible, the dealer would do well to so that the limit of weight for the first and second
select a few new records of the character which zones is increased to twenty pounds is used as an
the delinquent's past purchases show him to prefer, occasion by a prominent credit man to remind
and then call on him at his own home. Hearing credit grantors that the change will strengthen the
the new records, together with a realization of the position of the mail order houses, so that it be-
dealer's interest in him, would go a long way hooves them to use their offices to the fullest ex-
toward changing the customer's attitude.
tent in training the retailers to efficiency. He as-
In the event of a personal call being impossible, serts that unless many of the retailers adopt im-
the dealer ought at least to telephone the back- proved methods of business they will be elimi-
ward one, or failing this, to write him a letter in- nated, for the dealer in the small country town
quiring the reason for his failure to purchase any can compete with the retail mail order house only
records for the given time, as the case may be.
in so far as his knowledge extends to retailing on
a scientific basis.
So many causes can contribute to the falling off
of record sales that it is absolutely essential to
The dealer must, therefore, be made to
watch carefully the purchases of each individual realize the importance of knowing the cost of his
customer. Possibly he has failed to receive his merchandise, the percentage to be added to assure
supplement for that month; or perhaps careless a reasonable profit in selling, the existing condi-
handling has broken something on his machine, or tions in the community, how to advertise eco-
put some part of the mechanism out of adjustment. nomically, and how to train his help to bring in
Some little thing may be bothering him, says the the best trade.
(Special to The Review.)
"TALKER" SALESMEN MEET.
(Special to The Review.)
DETROIT, MICH., November 3.—The latter part of
last week was featured in the talking machine
trade by a convention of salesmen from the Grin-
nell stores in Detroit and other cities in the lower
peninsula of Michigan. Altogether forty-five were
present. Several instructive addresses were made
on salesmanship as applied to talking machines in
general and Victrolas in particular. There was
also general discussion of the subject. C. A. Grin-
nell acted as chairman of the meeting.
NEW COLUMBIA AGENTS.
Recent additions to the lists of the Columbia
Graphophone Co.'s representatives in near-by terri-
tory include Giosul Rossi, 689 East 187th street,
New York, and Andrew Eckel, 6950 Third avenue,
Brooklyn, N. Y. The George A. Cassidy Co.
Schenectady, and M. Ehrenfeld, Passaic, N. J., who
have been handling the Columbia line for some
time, have both placed unusually large orders for
immediate delivery to take care of their holiday
trade.
THE SUBJECTS "SERVICE."
Under the heading, "The Landslide at Landay's,"
Landay Bros., the prominent Victor distributers, in-
serted an advertisement in the Sunday newspapers
that was both original and attractive. The prime
feature of the copy was the subject of service, and
this important phase of merchandising was inter-
estingly discussed. The border of the advertise-
ment consisted of a number of figures in a dancing
posture, and with the force of the text was respon-
sible for the closing of a number of sales of ex-
pensive Victrolas and record libraries during the
week.
Edison Phonograph Monthly, which he has not
had time to consult you about, but your appearance
at his home at that time would prove your interest
in him and bind him just so much closer to you in
the future, to his permanent satisfaction and your
increasing profit.
pLAYED