Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, MAY, 19%1
AILURE to segregate organ
sales from piano figures are
producing some funny sized
unit of sales. Dealer who sells
50 instruments for $20,000 says his
unit of sale is $400, but there are 6
organs in that volume. So the dealer is
acclaimed as having a much higher
unit of sale than the industry. It would
not be surprising that the grand sales
are also included, thus pushing up the
upright unit, the latter suspected of
being about $275. Now if second-hand
sales are lumped into the total, then the
figures are again screwy. Perhaps the
association could work out a statisti-
cal formula, on which data could be
secured—standardized.
F
RIVILEGED to see some Wur-
litzer figures recently, we rec-
onciled those with the industry
progress of the past 6 years,
and find that while the trade went up 2
times, the Wurlitzer gain was 5 times
in production of pianos. Thus twice the
acceleration of the Wurlitzer gains
versus the piano industry figures
shows what leadership can do, and
doing the work in the midst of general
conditions under which all labor. Ex-
ceeding 18,000 pianos for Wurlitzer in
1940, practically all one name and one
price policy, makes for the greatest
number of pianos under one name.
Who is there that can put their finger
on just what has been responsible for
a progress of twice the industry, for
there is a reason, even if an explana-
tion is not understandable. Our belief
is that the basic ingredient—and one
can have all the others—is that of man
power—from the skipper to the bo'sn;
solid policies of operation; skilful fast
hitting merchandising, treating pianos
as home jewelry, impressing the trade
on selling and the public on buying.
Man power generates that spirit of
achievement; there is a sprightly at-
mosphere of "doing" in the Wurlitzer
organization, or else it could not get
twice the results for itself of the
industry.
P
AMES of those contributing
to the team work of Wurlitzer
are not needed herein; they
know who they are; dealers
know many of them, and many others
have heard of the executives — the
group who can seize an idea; roll it out
on the baker's table and bake as pretty
a pan full of sales bread as was ever
pulled out of an oven. I can outline a
chart of successful piano activity with
manipulations beginning at the forest
and ending at the fireside, and still
there would be no data gathered on
just "why" for the Wurlitzer achieve-
ment. If this information could be
"smoked out" it would add to the gen-
eral fund of information on "how to be
a successful piano manufacturer" and
its adoption in essentials be of stimu-
lating aid to others in the industry
work of increasing piano buying. With
4 companies doing over half the busi-
ness in numbers, and this is not men-
tioned disparaging of others, for nearly
all enjoy a profitable volume, still we
can learn something every day, and
the Wurlitzer "secret of success"
would be a choice morsel for tomorrow.
N
N another angle is that of the
outfit with $75,000 surplus
which wanted to "go into"
pianos. Was this group sur-
prised at the earnings of piano mfrs.
contented with a "finif" profit on many
models of instruments. Its impression
of piano growth, due to the oft repeated
news items in newspapers that the
piano business is increasing by bounds
and leaps, concluded on the angle of
profits and it "wanted to get into it."
But it went right out of the picture
when those half-sawbuck left overs
were indicated with the companies
they contacted (its plan was to buy and
then sell, using its own name) were
content with the present small mar-
gins. Company said it could make
marbles and do better, proving our oft
repeated remarks that piano men do
not get the proper returns. Our advo-
cacy of better prices is confirmed by
O