Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, FEBRUARY, 1U1
TEN, TRADE!
Protect yourself against future price raises
'OU'RE in for higher pianc
prices. Already there has been
an increase in wholesale prices
which amounts to from 4% to 10%.
But, from all we can gather, that
will not be all, as there is every rea-
son to believe that as long as the
present emergency lasts, prices of
materials will naturally go higher.
So those dealers who placed their
orders for instruments before the
present price raise are fortunate and
those who place their orders before
the next one will also be lucky.
There have been some who have pre-
Larlelon Chace
dicted that by Fall it is going to be
almost impossible to get pianos, but we do not agree with
this. Of course in these strenuous days no one seems to
know what may happen tomorrow, but looking at the
picture as it is today we believe that manufacturers of
supplies are very well protected for sometime to come and
that pianos will be produced as usual over the period of the
next twelve months. It will be wise, however, for dealers
to anticipate their requirements as far ahead as possible.
They will be protecting themselves and at the same time
aiding the manufacturers in planning production.
Y
Opportunity for
Legitimate Profits
OR several years we have heard much complaint about
manufacturers not making a legitimate profit. Some
of the dealers have complained about the same thing.
But, of the two we think the manufacturer has suffered
the most. Now we enter a sellers market, prices on all
commodities will advance. For instance, with the auto-
mobile manufacturers making war material there will be
few if any new automobile models this year and undoubt-
edly production will be curtailed with the result that prices
will rise. And it is the public who pays. We do not expect
to see much curtailment in the production of pianos and
perhaps even a greater production than last year. This
does not mean, however, that it will not cost more to pro-
duce instruments and in raising his prices a manufacturer,
has an opportunity to get back to where he can make a
legitimate profit and so does the dealer. The public is going
to expect higher prices and there will be many this year
to whom pianos will be sold who will be making consider-
ably more than they have in many years and will not mind
spending the extra few dollars demanded in order to have
something they have wanted for a long time. So when your
manufacturer tells you that your pianos will cost more, do
not go into hysterics and quibble but realize that it's your
opportunity to get the retail price of pianos back where
they belong as well as the wholesale price. The sale of more
units don't mean much unless the dollar volume increases
also. A look at the figures on pages four and five of this
issue will be self evident in this respect.
F
The 1941 Clinics
Look Exceptionally Good
N another page of this issue we are publishing in
condensed form the programs of the various Retail
Piano Sales Clinics which will be held in various
O
cities during February and March. We are impressed by the
subjects which will be discussed and the choice of these
shows that there has been much time and thought spent in
working on subjects which are timely and of vital impor-
tance to the life of the retail piano business. After reading
over these subjects we feel quite certain that any dealer in
the vicinity of the cities where these clinics will be held
will certainly desire to be present and find out what methods
of collecting, prospecting, advertising and selling have
proved successful in other lines of business. Of all the pro-
motions which have been put in operation by the National
Piano Manufacturers Association this is undoubtedly one
of the most dynamic and constructive from every view-
point.
.
, .
The Proposed
•'• x .
National Piano Foundation
>^ '
A NOTHER idea which is now in an embryo state is
/ - \ one which was discussed in the recent meeting of the
executive committee of the National Piano Manu-
facturers Association. That is a "National Piano Foun-
dation." Just how this organization will function has
not been divulged but we can see from its name that behind'
it is the thought of national promotion of the piano as a
cultural instrument, a necessity in the every day life in
every home, its importance as an influence on the proper
bringing up of children, its marked influence on building
character, all of which and many others is to be brought
home to the public through a concerted effort established
through a Foundation. Such a promotion to the public,
combined with the Piano Sales Clinics for the benefit of
the dealers and salesmen, sounds most practical. It is grati-
fying to one who has been in this industry over a period of
many years to see steady progress being made toward the
education of future generations in the appreciation of the
piano which, if persistently conducted will in time bring
the piano to be considered again as much of a necessity in
the home as it was considered by the generations of the gas
light era.
Regional Chapter
Plan Gets Under Way
'HE plan to have regional chapters of the National
Association of Music Merchants in order to promote
the efficiency of the organization for the benefit of
its members got off to a good start in Philadelphia this
month. Dealers of eastern Pennsylvania gathered in the
city of brotherly love and formed the first of these regional
chapters. The success of getting dealers in that state to-
gether to cooperate on matters which will benefit the entire
trade should be an example which can profitably be fol-
lowed by dealers in other sections of the country and places
the stamp of approval on the idea as promoted by Paul S.
Felder, president of the National Association of Music
Merchants.