The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1913)

16 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. For quality, variety, interest and activity the Columbia Record List for September is a symphony! Columbia Graphophone Company Woolworth Building, New York NEW MACHINES FIND FAVOR ON PACIFIC COAST. Various Talking Machine Houses Look for Lively Fall Trade in New $75 Models — Wiley B. Allen Co. After Mail Order Business — Victrolas Featured with Player-Pianos — New Lines Make Appearance — Hauschildt Co. to Remodel Quarters — News of the Month. (Special to The Talking Machine World.) San • Francisco, Cal., August 6. — Business for July, while quiet in comparison with some preceding months, ran ahead in many instances of the corresponding month of last year in spite of the fact that vacations were still in order at the various music houses and no. very active campaigns were in progress either in the wholesale or retail talking machine quarters. A good many dealers in this section are beginning to place advance orders for future delivery in anticipation of the holiday season, notwithstanding the fact that it is generally conceded that the factories are in much better shape to supply their demands than they were last year. Much Interest in New $75 Machines. A notable feature in the local trade, as it is a recent development, is the interest being shown in $75 machines. Heretofore that price of machine has not been particularly popular. The cheaper $50 machines were in big demand and the $100 models sold well, but there seemed to be almost an even break between the two prices. With the introduction of the improved $75 machines — the Columbia Leader and the new model No. X Victrola— the distributers of both Columbia and Victor products report large orders for these new styles, a id the $75 machine promises to become a big factor in the fall business. Developed Good Mail Order Business. The Wiley B. Allen Co. has devoted particular attention lately to the development of mail order business in its talking machine department and has succeeded in working out a system for handling this part of the business which is bringing very good results. Manager Black says business has been very good the past month considering that the vacation period was just at its height. An Effective Combination Display. Sherman, Clay & Co. recently arranged an attractive window display in which Victrolas and player-pianos were featured together, showing harmonious effects for the living room. They are finding that these two branches of their business work in very nicely together, as they often sell the same customer both a Victrola and a playerpiano. Two additional stories are being added to the Sherman-Clay Building, but the work is being handled in such a manner as not to inconvenience any departments of the business. ,New Line Attracts Attention. Peter Bacigalupi & Sons report very good progress with the Boston Talking Machine Co.'s Little Wonder machine, for which they are distributers in California. They were visited recently by special representative E. C. Howard, of the Boston company, who looks after the Western trade. He had covered his territory quite thoroughly and was pleased with the results. Peter Bacigalupi, manager of the Bacigalupi department, is out on a hunting expedition this month. Hauschildt Co. to Make Improvements. The Hauschildt Music Co. plans to make extensive improvements this fall, which will include the installation of a new front to its building and the remodeling and redecorating of the interior. The talking machine department on the second floor will be renovated, : as well as the other sections of the store. A new front was installed at the Oakland store not long ago and open-air concerts are now being featured daily. Planning for Strong Fall Campaign. W. S. Gray, local manager for the Columbia Graphophone Co., is getting ready for a very active fall campaign, in which he will devote particular attention to the record end of the business. Fred Anglemier, wholesale manager, reports a normal business for July, with signs of improvement toward the end of the month. Talker Men on Vacations. J. S. Baley, manager of Babson Bros.' San Francisco branch, is enjoying a vacation at present. A. R. Pommer, manager of the Pacific Phonograph Co., is also among the vacationists. THE GOOD SALESMAN Must Be Retailing Expert — Needs Magnetism and Self-Control. energy and a desire to get ahead that can rise to a partnership. To men of this calibre selling goods offers greater opportunities than ever in all lines ot business." Whether salesmen any longer have the opportunity of making big money as salesmen is frequently discussed. There are many who say that personality is a larger factor than ever, and that this, together with the science of salesmanship, will always maintain the value of selling power. A prominent manufacturer said the other day that a salesman had to be better posted along scientific lines to-day than ever before. He must study his customers' competition and be expert in retail merchandising, as well as a keen reader of character. He must have the knack and judgment of knowing what his trade wants, and must aid his customers in making selections. He must be a close student of his own lines, and be able to point out superiorities and inferiorities. He must also have personal magnetism and the power of making friends. Besides these, absolute control over his temper and actions is necessary. Disagreeable scenes often come up, and the salesman of to-day must either be clever enough to smooth them over or else school himself in making as graceful an exit as possible. A clever salesman will never quarrel with a customer or a prospective one. It makes a bad -name fcr his house, and besides it does not pay, because he knows that the day may come when he will sell tbat man a bill of goods. "With such qualifications," remarked the manufacturer, "the modern expert salesman will command more money than ever, because personality and unusual efficiency are necessary in all lines of business. "More salesmen in the near future will probably become partners, because the type of man successful in the selling field embodies qualifications and executive characteristics that have not been thought necessary in the past. "Old-time salesmen rarely open a new account, but go on, season after season, evidently without knowing that new merchants are constantly starting in business. There are plenty of such men puttering along just where they were fifteen years ago, simply taking orders from the customers they have without trying for new ones. In the same houses men have been made partners who entered long after the order takers started. Order takers would never be anything else anywhere. They never get ahead. It is the salesman with plenty of RECORD FOREIGN TRADE. Imports and Exports Both Greater Than Ever Before, Records Show. (Special to The Talking Machine World.) Washington, D. C, August 5.— Figures of the total -foreign trade of the United States during the fiscal year 1913, just completed by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, show total imports of $1,812,621,160, against $1,653,264,934 in 1912, and total exports of $2,465,761,910, against $2,204,322,409 in 1912. Of the total imports $825,331,166 were dutiable, against $771,594,104 in 1912, and $987,289,994 entered free oi duty, against $881,670,830 in 1912. Of the total exports $2,428,421,508 were of domestic production and $37,340,402 foreign merchandise exported. The excess of exports over imports was $653,140,750. Imports of both free and dutiable goods show larger figures than in any preceding year, and the figures of exports, domestic and foreign, are in each case considerably langer than e\er before. The total foreign commerce for the year was valued at $4,278,383,070, as compared with $3,857,587,343 in the prior year, an increase of $420,795,727, of which increase $159,356,226 was in imports and $261,439,501 was in exports. EXCELLENT VICTROLA PUBLICITY Received by the E. W. Owen Co., of Mankato, Minn., Through Supplying an Instrument to Bethany College for Demonstration. The E. W. Owen Co., of Mankato, Minn., an aggressive Victor dealer, received some excellent publicity recently by furnishing a large Victrola and a supply of records for use at Bethany College in a demonstration by the college's instructor in music. The Mankato papers devoted suitable space to the use of the Victrola at the concert, and one of the newspaper reports read in part as follows : "By means of the Victrola, the interpretation of some of these classic pieces as the masters have interpreted them are brought directly to the students, and they have almost the same advantage as they would in hearing the great musicians themselves." i| ; Tj^j