Presto
Issue: 1920 1753 - Page 27
PRESTO
February 26, 1920.
THE BIGGEST ASSET
IN ANY BUSINESS
The Good Name of the House, as Well as of
the Article Sold, Represents Real
Values and Should Always
Be Rigidly Guarded.
Decrying the use of comparative price advertising
and warning against deceptive trade terms, Richard
H. Lee, Special Counsel of the Associated Adver-
tising Clubs, in an address in New York on Feb-
ruary 20th, urged the elimination of practices which
undermine confidence in advertising and business
and jeopardize the good will of a retail store. Mr.
Lee said, in part:
"One of the enigmas to me in present day busi-
ness life is the careless way in which business
houses treat their greatest asset, their own good
name. You insure your building; you insure your
stock; you bond your employes; you even insure
your accounts; you protect yourself as to all of
these tangible assets; yet, any of them could be re-
placed in the open market. But what are you do-
ing to protect your own good name—the biggest
asset in any business?
Merchant's Opinion Only.
"In my opinion one of the most destructive in-
fluences in retail merchandising is the use of com-
parative prices and comparative values. Compara-
tive values are fraudulent on their face. They be-
speak a fact which is nothing more nor less than
the opinion of the merchant. And comparative
prices involve matters which are very apt to create
dissatisfaction with the customer. But the real evil
which lies in both of these practices is the avenue
you open for the use of your illegitimate competi-
tor. Assuming that you are perfectly honest, that
your comparative prices are fair, and that your
comparative values are based on your best judg-
27
ment, you must realize that your competitor, who
thinks less of the future of his business than you
do yours, has thrown open to him a field, appar-
ently legitimatized by you, in which he has no lim-
its. It only takes a pencil to send his former sales
price up and his present sales price down, and while
1 would concede that this is a practice which will
eventually relieve you of his competition, you must
admit that it is confidence-destroying in character
and that the shopper who loses confidence in his
advertising is very apt to lose confidence in all ad-
vertising.
"Another of the crying evils of present day mer-
chandising is the use of deceptive names. What
possible purpose can there be in calling a product
names that merely reflect on the price you charge
for the real product?
More and more the smart
merchant is instructing his advertising men to tell
the truth and nothing but the truth about his mer-
chandise. He is calling everything by its real name
so that there will appear over his door the words,
which no sign painter can efface, 'This Is a Safe
Place in Which to Shop.'
How to Get Dollars.
"The farseeing and successful merchant today
believes in pyramiding on his advertising invest-
ment. He looks forward to the day when his insti-
tution will be so well advertised as to begin to ad-
vertise itself. Advertising is but a means of con-
tact with the public. It is a method of bringing
the public into your place of business. Any mer-
chant can pyramid on his advertising by taking just
as great pains in satisfying a customer as he does to
get a customer into the store. The satisfied cus-
tomer is an advertising asset. A dissatisfied cus-
tomer, a heavy liability. Where pains are taken
to satisfy the customer, the strength of your ad-
vertising is pyramided. The merchant who depends
on his copy to get a new crowd into the store each
day is playing long on a falling market. It should
be the aim of every business man who expects to
stay in business to so firmly establish his own good
name that his business house becomes an institu-
tion. When he can get the public to saying that
his place of business is a safe one in which to buy,
for PIANO and PHONOGRAPH
Manufacturers
HIGH-GRADE CARVED
NOVELTIES
Lamps, Wall Brackets, Book Ends,
Pedestals, etc.
When in Chicago visit our showrooms
at the Factory
2220 Ward Street, near Clybourn Aye.
Tel. Lincoln 2726
BRINKERHOFF
Player-Pianos and Pianos
rh* Lin* That S«ll« Easily and Satisfies Alwaya
BRINKERHOFF PIANO CO. " " B J H S t f " CHICAGO
BAUER PIANOS
JULIUS BAUER @ COMPANY
Office and Wareroomi
Factory
1*33 Altgeld Street. CHICAGO
Old Number, 244 Wabash Av*
New Number. 305 S. Wabash Av.
Nation-wide Drive for Its Music Publications to Be
Begun by Sherman, Clay & Co., San Francisco.
The music publishing department of Sherman,
Clay & Co. has national ambitions that put no limit
to the size of its territory. Ed. Little, manager of
the department, has announced that the whole
United States is the dimensions of his field of ac-
tivity. By a proper system of jobbing Mr. Little
expects to reach every dealer of sheet music in the
country and to make the Sherman, Clay & Co.'s
publications household words.
Herbert Marple will be in charge of the jobbing
department and will visit dealers in the large cities
of the country. In his country-wide drive he will
be assisted by Robert Rhoades, Richard J. Powers,
and William Purdy. Mr. Powers, who was at one
time Western manager for the Stasny Music Co.,
will take charge of the Eastern trade. Mr. Rhoades
will have the Midwest territory and Mr. Purdy the
Western trade. Sherman, Clay & Co., which has
produced several pronounced "hits" recently, goes
to the trade with a very creditable list of songs.
I. N. Rice, selling Behning pianos, visited Port-
land, Oregon, last week and Lipman, Wolfe & Co.
gave him a good order for uprights and grands,
which will arrive there in July.
he has established an advertising value which will
go on and on and continue to pour dollars into the
till long after he ceases to use the printed word.
"That kind of a reputation cannot be builded on
a foundation of deception. The merchant who ad-
vertises a bargain which he cannot produce when
the customer calls, has created a handicap which
he must overcome if he desires to stay in the good
graces of that particular individual. It is far bet-
ter for any institution to lose a sale than the good
will of a possible customer."
THE ORIGINAL RELIABLE
ARTISTIC CARVINGS
E. KOPRIWA CO.
FOR GREATER AMBITIONS
IN THE PUBLISHING FIELD
RIAINO
(STRICTLY HIGH GRADE)
Sure Sellers.
Certain Satisfaction
Thirty years of satisfactory service in American homei.
QBNBRAL OFFICES AND FACTORY
WEED and DAYTON STREETS
KROEGER
(Established 15 J 2)
The name alone is enough to suggest to dealers the Best
Artistic and Commercial Values.
The New Style Players Are Finest Yet. If you can
get the Agency you ought to have it.
KROEGER PIANO CO.
NEW VOKh. N. Y.
and
STAMFORD, CONN,
TWO TRADE WINNERS
HARTFORD
I CHURCHILL
E. Leins Piano Co mpany
If you want Good Goods at Right Prices, here ars two
that will meet your requirements—Players and Pianos.
RELIABLE — FINE TONE — BEAUTIFUL
Makers of Pianos That Are Leaders
in Any Reliable Store
HARTFORD PIANO COMPANY
NEW FACTORY, 304 W. 42nd St., NEW YORK
1223-1227 MILLER STREET, CHICAGO
&7ie pest knou)n
r/ame
PIANOS
Made By
ORGANS
Z7fiepertprofit
E 5 T E Y PIANO COMPANY • NEW Y1MK CITY
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
February 26, 1920.
THE BIGGEST ASSET
IN ANY BUSINESS
The Good Name of the House, as Well as of
the Article Sold, Represents Real
Values and Should Always
Be Rigidly Guarded.
Decrying the use of comparative price advertising
and warning against deceptive trade terms, Richard
H. Lee, Special Counsel of the Associated Adver-
tising Clubs, in an address in New York on Feb-
ruary 20th, urged the elimination of practices which
undermine confidence in advertising and business
and jeopardize the good will of a retail store. Mr.
Lee said, in part:
"One of the enigmas to me in present day busi-
ness life is the careless way in which business
houses treat their greatest asset, their own good
name. You insure your building; you insure your
stock; you bond your employes; you even insure
your accounts; you protect yourself as to all of
these tangible assets; yet, any of them could be re-
placed in the open market. But what are you do-
ing to protect your own good name—the biggest
asset in any business?
Merchant's Opinion Only.
"In my opinion one of the most destructive in-
fluences in retail merchandising is the use of com-
parative prices and comparative values. Compara-
tive values are fraudulent on their face. They be-
speak a fact which is nothing more nor less than
the opinion of the merchant. And comparative
prices involve matters which are very apt to create
dissatisfaction with the customer. But the real evil
which lies in both of these practices is the avenue
you open for the use of your illegitimate competi-
tor. Assuming that you are perfectly honest, that
your comparative prices are fair, and that your
comparative values are based on your best judg-
27
ment, you must realize that your competitor, who
thinks less of the future of his business than you
do yours, has thrown open to him a field, appar-
ently legitimatized by you, in which he has no lim-
its. It only takes a pencil to send his former sales
price up and his present sales price down, and while
1 would concede that this is a practice which will
eventually relieve you of his competition, you must
admit that it is confidence-destroying in character
and that the shopper who loses confidence in his
advertising is very apt to lose confidence in all ad-
vertising.
"Another of the crying evils of present day mer-
chandising is the use of deceptive names. What
possible purpose can there be in calling a product
names that merely reflect on the price you charge
for the real product?
More and more the smart
merchant is instructing his advertising men to tell
the truth and nothing but the truth about his mer-
chandise. He is calling everything by its real name
so that there will appear over his door the words,
which no sign painter can efface, 'This Is a Safe
Place in Which to Shop.'
How to Get Dollars.
"The farseeing and successful merchant today
believes in pyramiding on his advertising invest-
ment. He looks forward to the day when his insti-
tution will be so well advertised as to begin to ad-
vertise itself. Advertising is but a means of con-
tact with the public. It is a method of bringing
the public into your place of business. Any mer-
chant can pyramid on his advertising by taking just
as great pains in satisfying a customer as he does to
get a customer into the store. The satisfied cus-
tomer is an advertising asset. A dissatisfied cus-
tomer, a heavy liability. Where pains are taken
to satisfy the customer, the strength of your ad-
vertising is pyramided. The merchant who depends
on his copy to get a new crowd into the store each
day is playing long on a falling market. It should
be the aim of every business man who expects to
stay in business to so firmly establish his own good
name that his business house becomes an institu-
tion. When he can get the public to saying that
his place of business is a safe one in which to buy,
for PIANO and PHONOGRAPH
Manufacturers
HIGH-GRADE CARVED
NOVELTIES
Lamps, Wall Brackets, Book Ends,
Pedestals, etc.
When in Chicago visit our showrooms
at the Factory
2220 Ward Street, near Clybourn Aye.
Tel. Lincoln 2726
BRINKERHOFF
Player-Pianos and Pianos
rh* Lin* That S«ll« Easily and Satisfies Alwaya
BRINKERHOFF PIANO CO. " " B J H S t f " CHICAGO
BAUER PIANOS
JULIUS BAUER @ COMPANY
Office and Wareroomi
Factory
1*33 Altgeld Street. CHICAGO
Old Number, 244 Wabash Av*
New Number. 305 S. Wabash Av.
Nation-wide Drive for Its Music Publications to Be
Begun by Sherman, Clay & Co., San Francisco.
The music publishing department of Sherman,
Clay & Co. has national ambitions that put no limit
to the size of its territory. Ed. Little, manager of
the department, has announced that the whole
United States is the dimensions of his field of ac-
tivity. By a proper system of jobbing Mr. Little
expects to reach every dealer of sheet music in the
country and to make the Sherman, Clay & Co.'s
publications household words.
Herbert Marple will be in charge of the jobbing
department and will visit dealers in the large cities
of the country. In his country-wide drive he will
be assisted by Robert Rhoades, Richard J. Powers,
and William Purdy. Mr. Powers, who was at one
time Western manager for the Stasny Music Co.,
will take charge of the Eastern trade. Mr. Rhoades
will have the Midwest territory and Mr. Purdy the
Western trade. Sherman, Clay & Co., which has
produced several pronounced "hits" recently, goes
to the trade with a very creditable list of songs.
I. N. Rice, selling Behning pianos, visited Port-
land, Oregon, last week and Lipman, Wolfe & Co.
gave him a good order for uprights and grands,
which will arrive there in July.
he has established an advertising value which will
go on and on and continue to pour dollars into the
till long after he ceases to use the printed word.
"That kind of a reputation cannot be builded on
a foundation of deception. The merchant who ad-
vertises a bargain which he cannot produce when
the customer calls, has created a handicap which
he must overcome if he desires to stay in the good
graces of that particular individual. It is far bet-
ter for any institution to lose a sale than the good
will of a possible customer."
THE ORIGINAL RELIABLE
ARTISTIC CARVINGS
E. KOPRIWA CO.
FOR GREATER AMBITIONS
IN THE PUBLISHING FIELD
RIAINO
(STRICTLY HIGH GRADE)
Sure Sellers.
Certain Satisfaction
Thirty years of satisfactory service in American homei.
QBNBRAL OFFICES AND FACTORY
WEED and DAYTON STREETS
KROEGER
(Established 15 J 2)
The name alone is enough to suggest to dealers the Best
Artistic and Commercial Values.
The New Style Players Are Finest Yet. If you can
get the Agency you ought to have it.
KROEGER PIANO CO.
NEW VOKh. N. Y.
and
STAMFORD, CONN,
TWO TRADE WINNERS
HARTFORD
I CHURCHILL
E. Leins Piano Co mpany
If you want Good Goods at Right Prices, here ars two
that will meet your requirements—Players and Pianos.
RELIABLE — FINE TONE — BEAUTIFUL
Makers of Pianos That Are Leaders
in Any Reliable Store
HARTFORD PIANO COMPANY
NEW FACTORY, 304 W. 42nd St., NEW YORK
1223-1227 MILLER STREET, CHICAGO
&7ie pest knou)n
r/ame
PIANOS
Made By
ORGANS
Z7fiepertprofit
E 5 T E Y PIANO COMPANY • NEW Y1MK CITY
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).