Radio broadcast .. (1922-30)

Who Will Retail Radio? 55 1. Hardware Dealers Hardware Dealers have never taken very keenly to the sale of electrical equipment. The merchandise they sell and the class of trade which their establishments attract, are concerned more with mechanical than electrical contrivances, although some of the larger hardware dealers have established electrical departments and have been extremely successful in the sale of electrical equipment. 2. Department Stores Department stores can profitably handle radio material in a large volume if they have already established an electrical department in charge of a trained personnel. In this particular regard, they are more or less similar to hardware dealers who establish a special electrical department. 3. Phonograph Dealers Phonograph dealers, it would appear on first thought, should be a good outlet for radio apparatus. If, however, the problem is a little further analyzed, the facts will not bear out this contention. Speaking of the average phonograph store — not the large establishment, where the installation of a special radio department would be possible and probably practical — the personnel employed by phonograph dealers is not trained in the particular way necessary for the sale of radio equipment. This is true even if the sale of radio equipment is confined entirely to complete sets. The average phonograph dealer or phonograph salesman is in every sense of the word a salesman. He is quick to answer questions which may be put to him on the operation of the phonograph; but generally he is not in a position to discuss the technical phases of even the phonograph's construction and operation. If a phonograph dealer is to sell radio equipment, even complete sets, it will be necessary for him to secure the services of a more or less trained selling force who are capable of answering fairly technical questions; and it will be necessary for him to establish a department to install properly the radio sets which are sold, and to maintain radio sets which have been placed in operation. In selling complete sets the problem is of course much simpler than when selling parts. The sale of parts requires the service of a man who is fully familiar in every particular with radio circuits and radio construction work. Such a man, as a general rule will not be of particular service in the sale of phonograph equipment. The result is that the phonograph dealer must establish a complete radio department. This is an additional expense which will naturally reflect itself either in an increased price of material to customers or in decreased profit. 4-5. Electrical Dealers and Special Radio Stores Electrical dealers and special radio stores at the present stage of the radio industry cannot perhaps be properly grouped together when due regard is taken of all the facts. It will only be a question of a short while, however, before the special radio store will handle, in addition to radio equipment, other profitable lines of electrical merchandise. Practically everyone is a user of electrical equipment to some extent. It is but natural for the public to attempt to purchase some of this electrical equipment at the same place where they obtain their radio supplies and equipment. The progressive owner of a special radio store is bound to recognize this demand and will unquestionably, as has been the case in a great many instances, install a special department in which the more profitable lines of electrical merchandise, other than radio, are sold. It is, therefore, correct to class electrical dealers and special radio stores in the same category. The statements which apply to the electrical dealer, then, apply equally well to the special radio stores. Let us consider what qualifications the electrical dealer has which would permit him to sell radio equipment readily: 1 . Personnel The salesman in the average electrical dealer's store has been trained to think along electrical lines and to explain to the public the operation of electrical devices. By familiarizing himself with radio, therefore, he can talk in a manner which the public understands. The sale of radio material by an electrical dealer does not require the installation of special salesmen, merely the training of those already employed. 2. Installation and Maintenance Factors The electrical dealer has been accustomed to maintaining and installing electrical apparatus in the homes of his customers. The same personnel which is necessary for this work is in a position to undertake readily the installation and maintenance of radio equipment. For the sale of parts the electrical dealer is much better qualified than any of the other merchants listed above. The arrangement of his electrical stock is quite similar to the arrangement which will be necessary to make when radio parts are handled. He is familiar with the sale of small items from past experience and is accustomed to carrying in stock a varied assortment of parts. The personnel in the electrical dealer's store through their own knowledge of electrical devices can more easily adapt themselves to the problems presented by radio, if, indeed, they are not already familiar with them. Of prime importance, and the greatest ar