Music Trade Review

! \I '( ;lSr
THE
11, lY23
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
33
17il;PJ\YiltR
NT"VI
BUILDING UP SALES IN THE MUSIC ROLL DEPARTMENT
HAS MODERN STORE IN WALTHAM
Classifying the Department's Customers ACCOl-ding to Their Musical Tastes and Making Direct
M. L. Howard Piano Co. Handles Big Business
in Pianos, Phonographs, Small Goods, Etc.
Selling Appeals to Them on That Basis-Roll Service Creates Player Prospects
In vestigation sho,,'s tll"t thc a\"cra ge value o[
the music 1'011 librar y ill the hOllle o f th e player
ow ner is $.:;0. These fig'ur e, we re cOJllpiled at
a time when th e a verage r e ta il sa les pri ce of a
lllu s ic roll \Va,; $1, so it m ay b e considere d that
the number of r o ll s owned a vc ra g ed be t wee n
fort y -fiv e and fift v. As very f ew ro ll s arc di s ­
carded, evc n thou g h they llla y be o f s hort-liv e d
po pular nUlllbers, it Ill ay b e con s id e red that a
plaver owner a t the pr ese nt tiIlle is pl'actica ll y
ou t of th c l11arket on ce hi s llOIlle libra r y h;cs
r eac he d this fig ur e.
'vVhilt is the r easo n for thi s co nditi on o [ af­
fairs? It wo uld see m, in considering the entire
mar keting problem of th e mu s ic r o ll, that e\'e r y
player owner would be a steady custo mer fo r
thi s produ ct a nd th at the rr:placem e nt sa lcs, for
thus the y lll ay be term e d, would amount to a
co nsid"rablc ag.c;regate in th e cour se o f every
" ca r.
Th e al}:;\,\,cr i, probab ly to be found in the
\\'ay in which th e roll departlll en t of the aver­
a ge music merchant is handl ed . Despite th e
fact that th i, cI!'p;)rtm e nt has b ee n a recogni" ed
part of th e retail stor e io, : ' le ast tw e nty yea r s
r o ll s, in genera l, arc not ye t sol d as th ey ~ ltould
be. Yet th ere a rc s trikin " exception s to thi:;
rul e, merchan ts who hav e built up large sa les of
music rolls and who "'n'c a s t ead y sale fo r th is
produ ct to a clientele of c us t ome rs wh o bu y
;,' di s in g JIl e thods whi c h they usc .
The 1I1u s ic roll, lik e eve rythin g else that th e
Illusic de aler han(lic.' , will not se ll it se lf, nor can
th e musi c ro ll dep artlll e nt b e operated a lon g
th e lin es of least re:;istan ce. In fact, that is just
the tr o uble with th e avera ge departm e nt-the
ro ll s h av e been s toc ked, and that is about a ll
that has been don e wit lt them .
One Dealer's Plan
,\ (kaler \\ ho ha s ha d quite a s u cc ess with
Iii " IIlII S'C r o ll dCparlllH' nt [[:;es a Sy stC III that is
sO lll ct hing li ke this: The nrst thin g th at tile
clerks in th e d e partillcllt are in s tru c ted t o do is
to obtain the nalli e a nd addre ss o f every p erso ll
who buy s a roll. Th ey are also instruct ed , il S
jar as poss ible, to lea rn the ta s t es of th e C ll ';­
tOlller-wh e ther th e)' only desir e popular COlll­
1,0,iti on s , wllether the . like t ile seHI, classics ,
WHITE, SON CO.
Manufacturers of
ORGAN AND PLAYER-PIANO
LEATHERS
530·540 Atlantic Ave .. BOSTON, MASS.
f!!!~!~
\v hcthcr tlie y like cl assic ll1l1 s ic, etc. /\11 tliis
inforJll ,tti o n is e ntercd o n a car d, whi c h i, filed.
Th c piano d e p a rtlllent supplies all tlt e nallie s of
tho se who pur c ha se players, these being added
to th e li st.
Thi s li s t is worked ill two wa ys. Each Illonth
it is circu larized with thc lie"". bull e tin s of the
two catalogs by th e ,; tor e . Thi s is a blank e t
letter, bein g se nt to all o f them. Th e obje ct of
thi s is to ke e p tli e new is s u es before all the ClI S ­
t o meI's. _\ ceo illpanying the bulletins is " le tt e r
th at goes into SOllIe detail i n a nalyzin g th e m .
B ut this is w ork that is don e by th e ;l\' nage
dealer. The real inten s ive selli ne wo rk is done
by g:oup se llin g ktt c r~ that ar c se nt out at in­
terval s, acco rd ing to th e tastes of th e custolll c rs.
For instan ce, a group of rolls which h ave li g ht
c la ss ic nUlllb e r s record ed o n the m is pushed
w ith a dire ct le tt e r to people w ho are known
to lik e this so rt of music. O nce in so often a
seri es of oid-tilli e so ngs and in s trumental co m­
po sitions is push ed to people who arc known to
be pr ospec ts for th esc numbers. To tho s e who
o nl y lik e popular mu s ic eve ry so often a list of
th e blc ~ t hils is Illad e up a nd sent.
J)urin g th e \oV inter se aso n the city where this
d ea ler IS locate d ha s an e laborat e co ncert
course, the se ri es includin g twelve con certs , at
w hi c h 'io nlC of the leading arti s t s of th e coun try
app ea r. The girl in c harge of the roll d ep a rt­
ment makes it her b u siness to o btain ad vance
program s in each case and lett e r" a re sent t o
those w h o buy thi s sort o f music. The lett er
points out th a t t hl' composi tions t h a t will be
h ra rd at the co ncert are availab le in roll form
<.nd suggests th e ir purch ::tse before th e a rtist
app ears, thus giving those who a ttend an o ppor­
tunit y to s tudy th e pro g ram and increase th e ir
e nj oyment of it. It is s urprisin g th e nUlllber of
s ales th a t arc mad e by this m eans and th e
stea dy r epea t orders for certa in numbers that
ca n only be tr ace d to thi s so urce.
Th e girl in c harge of th e departnl c nl ha s a
se le c te d list of cus tomers whom she know s well
e no u gh to call up o n the teleph o ne. \<\' hen s uch
a custolller h as no t made a purchase in some
time shl' ca ll s hill! or her up and, with a p e r­
50n2. 1 tOUCil, often s u ccee ds in obtain in g an
order ba se d on the s u ggest ions whi c h s he has
Jl\ade.
Profits in Music Rolls
Thi s IIl crc hant J;nd, a profit in his mu sic r o ll
de partment. Dut h e has d one more than that.
N ine t y per cent o f th e peopl e who ha ve jlur­
c h ased p la yer-piano s f rom hi1l1 a re steady
so urces of pro spects . The rea so n is s impl e­
they arc ge tting full value from th e ir pla ye r­
pianos throu g ll the roll se r vice which he places
at th e ir disposal. The enjoyme nt th ey o btain
Ih cy a rc anxioll s to s hare with thei r friend s an d
they do it by se nding th eir names into th e
dea Ie I'.
To handle a roll department in this faslli o n
require s a Jirst-cla ss manager, on e w h o has
nlore than a worki n g kn ow ledge or Jllu s ic ami
o n e who is tactful enough to be able to fornl
close co nnection s 'w'ith cu s tom e rs and fl oss ibl e
Cll obtain a nd the in ves tment requir e d brin gs a n
adequ ate r e turn in in c reas ed sal es , w hich brin g
a good pr o lit and ,w hi c h a re for cas h.
W orceaterWind MotorCo•.
Now Being U ned by Leading Manufacturers
WORCF$rER" MM5,
Mak"n ,J A'Dao~~",R\l' ~~""'~",
Write for Full Particulars
469-485 Ea.t 133rd Street
New York
~
Howard Store in Waltham, Mass.
Mr. Hunt ha s attra ctiy c ly d ecorate d and
cquipp ed th e s t orc wit h ever y moder n con \'en i­
ence and ca rries a comple te s t ock o f Brun sw ic k
phonographs and r ecor d s, as well a." the E s tey,
Hobart M. Ca ble and th e vVeser ilros. pianos.
T he store also ca rrie s music roll s , s h ell "IIl"c
a nd ge ner al lllu $ica l mer chan di se.
In add ition to other mu s ic a l activiti es 1.fr.
Hunt s laled th ey 11a\c in s t a ll ed a si lla ll ra dio
department, whi ch h as been s u cccs~fll ll y co n
ducted by them for th e paq six m o ntlls. The
policy of this departm e nt is to d ea l o nly In COII! ­
ple te sets a nd it has be e n s uc ce ssf ul in putti ll ,;
out a lar ge num ber to th e ir clie nt ele.
IMPROVING LANDAY NEWARK STORE
Alterations Being Made With View to Develop­
ing the Piano End of the Business
;\Iteration s have bee n s tarted ill the
d cp arlinent
of
I~ ancl(ly
Br os.'
1l1t1 :"li(:
1'''111 0
;-,to rc
ill
Newark, N . J" this we ek a nd a speci,t1 e ffort
is being mad e to dev'elop th e pia no cnd of t h('
Land ay house, w hi c h wa s in year s ago .
\ s m a ll Miess n e r u p ri g ht with ;L
J apanese lacquer case has b ee n g ive n ))rOI11i ·
ncnt di s pla y in til e fr o nt s ho ,\' wi ll(lo\\', in addition, l11us ic fronl a. Stief£ r ep r o cJuc e r i.,
a lternated \vith phono g raph lllu:oie in th e vesti­
bul c of the store. G H. Flemmillg, a Yetc ;',,"
pi a n o salesm a n, at Olle time wit h the Laut e r Co.,
is in charge of the pian o d epa rtment ill t h e
bas eme nt and is very opt imi s ti c ove r prospect s. The full S ti e H and. Mie:;sne r Jill cs
are carried.
ITINERANT MERCHANTS' LICENSES
H AH IH SBURG, 1'1\., A ugu s t 6.- The Penns), " a ni;r
Stat e f. eg isbtlll·e ha s passed a bill, w hi c h Co\'
e rn or l'inchot ha s s ig ned, kn owll ;tS the Itiner­
a nt Mer c hant Dill. Spo nsorcd by th e l'Jlilatl c l­
p hia Chambe r of Conlill e rce , th i' bill lil a kc s i t
n ec essa r y for trav(,lin g 111 c r cilallts t o pa y a li­
ce ll se fce ran g- in.1?; from $25 to ~20 0 p C I' 1lI0nth ,
and ailll S to sto p the pra c ti ce of \'ell(\('I', 1'1'0111
other cities se lli ng; froll! ,trer t co rner s, Il o td
room s or telllPorary s tores. Th e o bject i:; pr o ­
tecti on for local merchants from titi, c la ss o f
competition.
CARTWRIGHT OPENS NEW STORE
A Single Valve Action
Simplified to the Point of Perfection
PEERLESS PNEUMATIC ACTION CO
WALTHA ~ t , \[,\ ss., . \Ugll st 6. - Th e il l'. L. 111 1\\,­
ageme nt of G. A.. Hunt, is fas t be collling o ne
of the leadin g re ta il piano h o u ses of thi s c ity.
WIND MOTORS for PLAYER.-PIANOS
AI"" .Ii kincLt "f !:'neumatld aDd Supplies
GRf::ENCASTLF, IND., August 6.-/\ nn'. mu sic "tore
is a bout to bc' ope n ed her e b y John '\.. Ca rt­
w ri g ht, 'who is ha vin g the ro om io rll1erl v OCC II­
pied by E. :-; hipk y r emo cJeled io r thi s purp o:;e,
He will citr r.v pianos and the f,, 11 V ictor lin e.