Play Meter

UPDATE EDITION
Volume 6 , Number 20
Novem ber 1, 1980
Stern expects Seeburg distribs' return
By RAY E. TILLEY
The large majority of previous
Seeburg phonograph distributors will
be returning to the line, under the
banner of the eeburg Mu ic~t>ivision
of Stern Electronics, predicted the
division's President Larry Siegel.
Part ' for older Seeburg model
will be guaranteed to be in tock, for
boxe from the Vogue line of 1975
onward,
aid Siegel, following a
meeting with di tributors in Chicago.
Siegel said the meeting for di tribu -
tors August 21 had "100 percent
attendance" by U.S. and Canadian
handler invited to Chicago by Stern.
Discussed were the acquisition of
eeburg manufacturing interests by
tern Electronics in July, and the
hort-term a'nd long-term project of
the phonograph divi ion. "Mo t of the
distributors were very receptive,"
Siegel said, adding that many were
previou handlers of the Seeburg line.
Stern is " ympathetic to their
need ,"said Siegel. "We're not asking
that they give up other products to
return to the Seeburg fold." In a
conversation with PLAY METER, the
tern / Seeburg divi ion chief noted
that a number of distributor have
taken other lines, especially Rowe
phonograph , during the period ince
October 1979, when the Seeburg plant
has been dormant. "However, this
year or the following year, the
di tributor I want will be in the
eeburg camp," aid Siegel, who was
connected with the production and
marketing of Seeburg phonographs
before joining Stern in 1978. '"
"There' a great deal of pre tige in a
Seeburg. It' always been the Cadillac
of the industry. In the next ix
months, we will take operators into
the profitable stream,
omewhere
they have not been for a while," Siegel
stated.
The Phoenix phonograph, de igned
but 'lot put into production by Seeburg
Cori-. before it bankruptcy filing of
last y ar, will be the fir t machine
built by tern under its acquisition of
the jukebox interest. Late October or
early
ovember will mark tern's
production start-up with Phoenix. The
phonogrllph will be on display at the
AMOA Show October 31, said Siegel.
The econd Seeburg box to be made
in Stern's factory will be completely
new. he explained. ''I'm now building a
good, competent box. Next year, we
will have a superlative, revolutionary
jukebox to offer," Siegel claimed.
While Stern is committed to service
on all its products, the demands on
factory space led to cutting off parts
upply with the Vogue, introduced in
1974, he explained, and 1975 will be the
olde t date for warehou ed parts-un -
less needed parts are common to those
of earlier machine . Some profe ional
part house will upply components
for Seeburg boxes that are nine years
old and older, Siegel noted, mentioning
Wico Corp. of Nile , Illinois as an
example.
During the coming 12 months, Stern
will manufacture wall boxes and
Seeburg part at it Chicago facility,
which Siegel was charged with organi -
zing at late summer.
With the key factor of lining up past
Seeburg di tributor , ''I'm anticipat-
ing Seeburg will recapture its market
share. We will be able to compete
effectively. I look forward to it-it's a
challenge," said Siegel.
Technicians from over eastern Canada were invited to Laniel Automatic,
Montreal distributors, at Laniel's expense to learn about Bally pinball
systems. Here, Ernie Aarstad of Bally conducts a class for some 80 techs.
Laniel annually introduces separate manufacturers to operators' technicians in
seminars such as this one, held April 30.