Music Trade Review

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REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXXXI. No. 9
Published Every SaUrday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y. Aag. 29, 1925
8ln
«£.£ o &V
Growth of Radio Retail Distribution
With the Music Merchant
Investigation Indicates That at the Present Time 85 Per Cent of Retail Music Merchants Are Carrying
This Product—The Attitude of the Retail Music Merchant Towards This Department—What
He Wants From the Manufacturer and What He Is Doing in Radio Merchandising
OW far has radio established itself as a
permanent department in the retail
music store since its first real appear-
ance as a factor of any importance some two
years ago?
How has the retail music merchant overcome
the obstacles represented in servicing the sets
which he has sold, formerly considered the
great obstacle to the successful conduct of this
department in the retail music field?
Has the music merchant worked out definite
merchandising policies in regard to radio and
are these efficient enough to expand the volume
of radio sales from this outlet in the face of the
increasing sales resistance which is gradually
and naturally making itself felt in this field?
With the opening of the Fall selling season
these three questions require a definite answer,
and The Review presents the following facts
in regard to them gathered over the entire coun-
try, both by its own editorial staff and its field
representatives.
85 Per Cent Handle Radio
To-day, approximately 85 per cent, of retail
music stores have definitely established radio •
departments. This represents an increase of
practically 45 per cent in radio distribution in
the past twelve months as is shown by an ex-
tensive national survey conducted by The Re-
view in the Summer of 1924, when it was re-
ported that 45 per cent of retail music mer-
chants were handling radio at that time. It is
also evidence that those who announced their
intention to install such departments at that
time have steadily gone ahead since then. Ap-
proximately 40 per cent of the total stated that
they were seriously considering the installation
of such departments.
If an arbitrary dividing line between music
merchants rated above $50,000 and those below
be used, it is found that, in the former class,
. practically 100 per cent are handling radio,
those who have not yet entered the field being
noticeable exceptions.
The Outlet Represented
As a result of these figures it may be
definitely stated that the general music store
represents a retail outlet of the greatest impor-
tance in the radio field and one that in the
future will in every probability distribute an
increasing proportion of the general sales of this
industry. The testimony of the retail music
H
merchant is that this increase will depend
largely upon the stability of the radio industry
itself from a manufacturing standpoint as well
Gain in Distribution of Radio in the Retail
Music Field in Three Years
as the co-operation which he receives from the
manufacturers from whom lie buys his goods.
The Merchant's Attitude
The merchant's attitude towards this depart-
ment as given in a great many interviews with
leading music merchants throughout the coun-
try shows that he has accepted it as a perma-
nent section of his store. He has, in many
cases, been compelled to charge the greater
part of the past two years to experience, which
in his eyes represents an investment on which
he expects to make a good profit in the future.
Like every other legitimate merchant who has
handled radio, he has suffered from some of the
evil conditions which are inseparable from a
new industry that came into existence so sud-
denly and which experienced such a rapid
growth. But in a majority of cases he has felt
that these conditions were the fault of no one,
that they were a sort of "growing pains," and
that the industry is making big strides to elim-
inate them.
An Opportunity to Expand
The average merchant sees in radio a new
outlet to increase his gross volume of sales
without a corresponding increase in his over-
head. Rearrangement of the average general
music store has provided proper facilities for
the department, and thus no large investment is
represented in its beginning. He has in most
cases devoted prominent space to it, and given
the receivers themselves a proper background
for their display, a necessity for the type of
product which he handles, about $100 and up
in price, represents. Adequate display facili-
ties are found in practically every music store
that handles the product. This is probably due
to the fact that the average music merchant is
accustomed to the comparatively large unit
value sale. The price mentioned above is for
the set equipped.
Solving the Service Problem
The question regarding the servicing side ol
radio no longer holds any terrors for the aver-
age retail music merchant. In the first place,
lie has found the main solution for this problem
in the way in which the receiver is sold. The
distance craze is steadily disappearing with the
average buyer, tone quality and appearance
largely taking its place. As a matter of fact
heavy service charges largely found their origin
in unwarranted claims for distance reception
made by enthusiastic salesmen in the early days
of radio retail selling. This has been steadily
eliminated by the proper training of the retail
salesman who has been instructed to concen-
trate his' selling talk on other features of the
receiver handled and not to guarantee distance
reception. Here, according to the merchants
interviewed, the main trouble on the side of
service has disappeared.
(Continued on page 4)