The talking machine world (Jan-June 1923)

160 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD April 15, 1923 DETR OIT All Lines Sell Briskly — Console Models Continue to Grow in Popularitx — Dealers Add Nezv Lines Detroit, AIich., April 7. — The first three months of this year have been excellent for talking machine dealers, both downtown and in the neighborhood sections. Machines have been selling very briskly and record business has been exceptionally good. Compared to last year, sales are easily 50 per cent better. Dealers are finding collections better than they have at any time in the past year. This is due mainly to the fact that Detroit is having a wonderful industrial boom at present, every factory working. On top of this the Retail Credit Men's Association during March conducted a campaign urging people to "pay up" and keep their credit standing good with the merchants. This proved very successful and had a great moral efifect on many people who were in arrears. The console models are gaining in popularit\-every day and retailers find that people are asking for finishes to match their woodwork. Mahogany and walnut are the most favored colors. The new schedule of prices, which lists some models at $200 and under, meets the pocketbook of the average buyer and it is an easy matter to sell the console over the upright now that the prices are about the same. One dealer told the writer that he believed that before another year 60 to 75 per cent of talking machine sales would be of the console. C. H. Grinnell, manager of the talking machine department of Grinnell Bros., has returned from his Florida trip, looking more fit tlian ever before. He states business is splendid and that merchandise has been coming through promptly, as a result of which the firm has been taking excellent care of its customers. .Weil & Co. are changing their line of talking machines and in the future will handle the Brunswick. The Henry S. Doran Co. is another retail firm that has added the Brunswick line recently, giving them the Victor and the Brunswick. There are now four firms downtown handling the Brunswick — J. L. Hudson Co., the Brunswick Shop, Henry S. Doran and Weil & Co. S. E. Lind, of the Lind & Marks Co., Vocalion dealer, is very optimistic about the future, based on sales for the first three months. "It is considerably ahead of last year and we are adding new accounts right along," he declares. "The fact that we are getting re-orders from our customers is proof that general business is good and also that they like our line." ■ Okeh records are a big seller in Detroit. They are handled by at least two dozen dealers. Finzels Orchestra, a local organization, has made quite a number of records for Okeh, which A Phonograph Line That Will Speak For Itself EXCELS BY COMPARISON Natural tone reproduction. Skilled and scientific construction. Unusual fineness and beauty of finish. Authentic and beautiful designs. ALL POOLEYS ARE ONE IN THESE QUALITIES Eight console models and one upright, beautiful in design and uorkmansliip — so absolutely silent in operation that nothing _ is lost when the record is being played— it reproduces exactly the original music Size: 8"xl4"xl5" The Master of Movable Music Brown, Mahogany and fumed oak. Surprising tone volume and clearness, durable, dependable, compact and convenient. Always everything a Portable Phonograph can be, and at a popular price — $37.50. "One handle handles it* Outing TALKING MACHINE ATTRACTIVE PROPOSITION TO OFFER DEALERS WRITE OR WIRE US C. L. MARSHALL COMPANY Wholesale Distributors MICHIGAN AND OHIO Detroit, 514 Griswold Street. Cleveland, 328 Superior, W. are in big demand. The C. L. Marshall Co. is the local jobber. The Arnold Johnson records made for the Brunswick are big sellers in Detroit at the present time. Johnson's band played a long engagement in Detroit last Fall and Winter, leaving to play three weeks for the Balaban & Katz Theatres in Chicago. The daily concerts on the radio over the Detroit News and the local broadcasting stations stimulates sales of talking machine records, as most of them are by various bands and orchestras who play the latest and most popular selections. The Phonograph Co., of Detroit, Edison distributor for this territory, in common with jobbers in other lines, is enjoying an excellent demand at the present time, and from all indications the remainder -of this year presents an inviting prospect from the standpoint of prospective increase in business. Edison recordings are steadily growing in popularitj', as are the phonographs. The Robinson-Chen Furniture Co., which now operates four retail stores in Detroit, is handling the Cheney talking machine line at all of its branches. In the dcAvntown section the Cheney is sold exclusively by the J. L. Hudson Music Store. The Detroit Music Co., which" handles the Columbia line of phonographs and records, is doing a big business. This store is kept open evenings and Manager Smith states that business is better than it has ever been. Manager Quinn, of the Brunswick Shop, reports the sale of a great many high-priced machines. "It seems that people will pay the price if you have what they want, but it must be quality and it must be different," he remarked. "We are catering to the very best trade and we find it is no trouble to get the price. And another thing — there is a lot of business to be had — it is just a question of the proper advertising and the proper sales policy." BRUNSWICK WITH KOHLER & CHASE Prominent Pacific Coast Merchants to Handle Brunswick Machines and Records in All Their Stores — An Important Agency San Francisco, Cal., April 9. — Announcement has just been given out by Brunswick representatives here that Kohler & Chase, whose headquarters are in this city and who also conduct an extensive chain of Coast stores, have taken on the Brunswick line of talking machines and records for their establishments at San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland and San Jose, Cal. The Shaffer Music House, Oil City, Pa., has purchased from Delahoyde & Wuller, music merchants of that city, the local agency for Victor talking machines and records. After all there is only one EDISON The first phonograph was the invention of America's foremost genius — Thomas A. Edison. Through all the stages of the development of the phonograph, Mr. Edison has always led the way. The New Edison is his latest achievement in this field and he considers it his greatest invention. Write us for our latest agency proposition The Phonograph Company of Detroit TRADE MARK Distributors for Michigan and Northern Ohio 1560 Woodward Avenue DETROIT