Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
44
The World's Musical Instrument—Not a Phonograph
HOFFAY
"The Airtight Machine"
Plays Records of All Makes
Prompt DelWerr
Unexcelled Quality
M o d e l s R e t a i l for
$125, $175, $225 and $275
Equipped with the famous "Returrectone"
Hoffay Talking Machine Co.
Incorporated
3 West 29th Street, New York City
CATERING TO THE NEEDS OF MEN
Unique Policies of Talking Machine Store Lo-
cated on Lower Broadway, New York, of In-
terest Because 90 Per Cent, of Sales Are to
Men—Arrangements Made to This End
The Trinity Talking Machine Co. is located
in the heart of New York City's downtown busi-
ness section—on lower Broadway—where ex-
ecutive offices of the country's largest financial
and commercial institutions predominate. Few
women shoppers ever penetrate into this terri-
tory, and the manager of the Trinity Talking
Machine Co. has found that about 90 per cent,
or more of the company's sales are made to men.
Many of these men occupy important positions
with their respective concerns, and have plenty
of money to buy records with if they can be
once placed on the customer roll. The Trin-
ity Co. has made an extensive drive for a cli-
entele of this sort, and has succeeded in large
measure.
A recent visit by a representative of The
Review disclosed a series of unique policies, all
of which are based on the class of trade sought
and the location of the establishment. For in-
stance, this store is never open evenings, for
after business hours this section of New York
is practically deserted. At midday, however,
when most men devote an hour or more to
lunch, the Trinity Co. does its rush-hour busi-
ness. In fact, the lunch hour, and the hour
or two immediately following the close of the
business day are best fitted for attracting new
and regular customers.
Whereas very few retail concerns do a rec-
ord business of more than one-half the total
sales for machines, this company's record sales
constitute the majority of the business done.
Whereas most demonstration booths are fur-
nished with a view to pleasing the feminine
eye, the booths of the Trinity Co. are designed
for the especial comfort of men. The great
quantity of handsome smoking stands is a fea-
ture found in few music stores, but in this case
they have proved a powerful factor in making
customers feel thoroughly at home. There is
no need to throw one's partly smoked cigar
away before entering the Trinity Shop, because
from first to last it is the desire of this com-
pany to cater to the whims and fancies and de-
sires of the male sex. Victor, Columbia and
Pathe records are handled.
NEW UDELL CABINET CATALOG
Attractive Volume Devoted Exclusively to Rec-
ord Cabinets to Be Issued by the Udell Works,
Indianapolis, at an Early Date
The Udell Works, Indianapolis, Ind., have in
course of preparation an elaborate twenty-eight-
page catalog devoted exclusively to the excel-
lent line of record cabinets put out by that con-
cern. In addition to the cabinets that have so
long proven popular in the trade, there will be
found in the new catalog several new and recent
styles of cabinets designed to match new types
of machines put on the market of recent date.
The catalog, which will be ready for distribu-
tion to the trade shortly, will be of convenient
size, and have attractive covers in three colors,
with the various styles of cabinets illustrated
and described in detail. It will be a volume
that will be up to the high Udell standard.
FEBRUARY 8,
MAKING PATRIOTIC PROFITS
Wm, Maxwell Tells How Edison Dealers Can Be
Patriotic and at the Same Time Make Money
"Under the stimulus of the war there was
practically no sacrifice which we were unwilling
to make. Patriotic fervor ran high, and while
there were a few human cooties who profiteered,
they were an almost inappreciable minority.
Taken in the aggregate, our wartime patriotism
was practically above reproach, but a lot of us
seem to feel that the necessity for patriotism
ceased on the day the armistice was signed.
The soldiers quit fighting that day and the work
of transition from war to peace began. The re-
sponsibilty was shifted from General Pershing
to you and me. What are we going to do
about it?" asks Wm. Maxwell, vice-president of
Thos. A. Edison, Inc., in a recent statement.
"During the war your business and my busi-
ness were not regarded as very important.
You and I, however patriotic we may have
been and no matter how much money we in-
vested in bonds or gave to the Red Cross, prob-
ably did not contribute a great deal to the win-
ning of the war. Certainly our respective con-
tributions were relatively insignificant when we
are compared with the boys who wore the uni-
form.
"Those boys are now coming back from camp
and overseas. It's going to be a burning shame
if a single one of them has to wait for a job.
This is your chance and mine to demonstrate
that our patriotism did not come to an end with
the end of hostilities. Every soldier salesman
we put on not only makes a job for that man,
but if he turns out to be a good salesman his
work makes work for others.
"Of course, you are going to take back all of
your former employes who went to war—unless
there are gold stars on your service flag. But
that isn't enough. The man who has ten good
salesmen working for him makes more profits
than the man who has only one.
"This year gives every promise of being a ban-
ner year. The merchant, particularly the phono-
graph merchant, who doesn't put on additional
salesmen to plant the seed and reap the harvest
of orders that 1919 holds in store for him has
probably nothing but sheer laziness as an ex-
cuse.
"Once in a while a merchant tells me that
he would like to hire a salesman if he could get
a good one. In other words, he is too lazy to
take a little initial pains in training and direct-
ing the work of a green salesman. If farmers
were too lazy to 'break' colts what would hap-
pen to agriculture? Many of you merchants
consider the farmer unprogressive, but there
are some merchants who are equally lacking in
progressiveness.
"Uncle Sam took stunted, narrow-chested
East Side boys and made fighting wildcats of
them. There is practically no kind of an Ameri-
can or Canadian who cannot be made into a
good fighting man, and there is certainly no
American or Canadian, of reasonably suitable
type, who cannot be made into a salesman ca-
pable of returning a profit to his employer.
"Training a salesman is one of the most profit-
able things a merchant can do. I know that
it takes time, but it is time which you can well
afford. I am sure you are now spending a por-
tion of your time on work not one-half so im-
portant to the success of your business as the
hiring, training and supervising of a few bright
salesmen.
"Every Edison dealer has plenty of elbow
room and ample population on which to work.
The size of your business depends principally
upon the size of your sales effort. How much
sales effort will you put forth this year?"
OPEN NEW VICTROLA DEPARTMENT
Sonneborn's Sons have purchased the three-
story building adjoining their present quarters
in LaPorte, Ind., and will occupy the store
space with an elaborate new Victrola depart-
ment.
How You Can
Safely Increase
Your Income
Piano merchants, who have
not investigated the talking
machine field, will find that
the subject is one of deep
interest to them and they
will also learn that talking
machines constitute a line
which can be admirably
blended with piano selling.
The advance that has been
made in this special field
has been phenomenal and
every dealer who desires
specific information con-
cerning talking machines
should receive The Talking
Machine World regularly.
This is the oldest publica-
tion in America devoted
exclusively to the interests
of the talking machine, and
each issue contains a vast
fund of valuable informa-
tion which the talking
machine jobbers and dealers
say is worth ten times the
cost of the paper to them.
You can receive the paper
regularly at a cost of $2.00
a year and we know of no
manner in which $2.00 can
be expended which will
supply as much valuable
information.
EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
Publisher
373 Fourth Ave.
NEW YORK
1919