The talking machine world (Jan-June 1928)

128 The Talking Machine World, New York, June, 1928 Toledo Dealers Report Sales Better Than Same Time in 1927 Employment Is Better and Industrial Worker Has More Money Than a Year Ago — Lion Store Music Rooms Plan Summer Campaign — Jobbers Sponsor Trade Show Toledo, O., June 6. — Employment is at a high level here. Consequently the buying power of the industrial worker is better than a year ago. Most phonograph and radio dealers report sales slightly above May of 1927. At the Lion Store Music Rooms & Radio Shop volume is ahead of the same period a year ago. The house has already started its Summer campaign in both departments. The sales force has been increased and home demonstration is on in full force. Radio for the first time is being demonstrated in the home. Seven or eight sets are being placed every day. Out of the number a large percentage are turned into sales. Richard Morgan is a new member of the staff. Combinations are in demand. At the J. W. Greene Co. sales in the talking machine, radio and record sections are ahead of last year, W. W. Baillie, manager, stated. The house is oversold on the new Orchestrope, designed for cafe and soda grill use. An aggressive drive on portables is under way. Victor, Carryola, Allen, Pal and QRS models are displayed. The house contemplates early improvements in department arrangements and has added to the sales staff. F. Van Lue, W. F. Hurt and Ed Janney are new members. The Toledo Radio Co. will pilot a delegation of Sparton dealers to the factory meeting at Jackson, Mich., on June 8. All Sparton retailers in this community have been invited. Many have already accepted. At that time new Sparton models will be shown and plans and policies for the new season will be discussed. Frank Flightner, Ashland avenue, Columbia dealer, reports volume; in his new location com pares favorably with last year. ColumbiaKolster models are meeting with favor. Columbia and Harmony portables are selling well. Radio sales continue favorable. The staff has been enlarged through the addition of F. M. Lees, credit manager, and Fay Lichtenstein, in charge of records. A radio show exclusively for retailers will be held at the Commodore Perry Hotel, on July 11, 12 and 13. Thirty-six rooms have been reserved for display purposes. Every radio jobber in this section will exhibit his wares. The affair is sponsored by and underwritten by the Toledo Radio Trades Association. The Roberts-Toledo Co., radio jobbers, held an exhibit and demonstration of the Majestic radio at the Hotel Lorraine recently. The display was well attended by dealers, who placed a considerable number of orders. T. M. Cook, Inc., Victor and Sparton retailer, reports the demand for instruments above a year ago. Record sales are climbing with dance numbers in greatest demand. The enterprise recently added the complete Columbia line. Grinnell Bros, recently acquired the Don Johns music store at Lima, O. Carl Rule, who has been in charge of out-of-town sales, will look after business in the new location. Hofman Bros. Co., dealer in phonographs, radio and home furnishings, recently suffered a fire loss of $10,000. The store is being redecorated and refitted. The Union Music Co. have added the Sonora portable instrument line. D. V. Voudouris, Monroe street, Columbia •dealer, reports a large foreign record business. He couples his efforts each month with the Columbia advertising in foreign language newspapers by offering to send the discs advertised anywhere. As a result he is receiving orders from many sections of the country and a few have been received from abroad. Folk songs and native melodies are leading sellers to the foreign-born people in this district. Freed-Eisemann Has Display of New Line Dealers of the Freed-Eisemann Radio Corp. in the metropolitan district of New York had an opportunity to see the entire 1928-29 line of receivers and speakers on display during the week of May 28. In co-operation with the Wholesale Radio Equipment Co. and the G. J. Seedman Co., Freed-Eisemann distributors in New York City and Brooklyn respectively, the Freed-Eisemann Corp. exhibited the products at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York on May 28 and 29. On May 31 and June 1, a similar exhibition was held at the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark, N. J., in co-operation with Wholesale Radio Equipment Co.'s Newark branch, which distributes the Freed-Eisemann product in that section. Sales representatives of Freed-Eisemann Corp. were on hand at both displays, working with the sales departments of the distributing organizations. Trade News From Milwaukee Field Milwaukee, Wis., June 5. — Sales of phonographs and radios are maintaining a fairly consistent immediate business, and wholesale houses are booking a good amount of future orders. Retail sales on phonographs and radios in Milwaukee were reported by dealers as being just fair; reports from other places in the State indicate a very good business. A caravan of Victor dealers about sixty strong left Milwaukee for Cambridge on May 30. A good amount of enthusiasm had been aroused in the trip, which was sponsored by the Badger Talking Machine Co., jobber for the Victor in Wisconsin. The Victor Record Girls' Club, of Milwaukee, at its May meeting had as its guest Miss Aileen Stanley, popular Victor artist, who was appearing in Milwaukee in "A Night in Spain." Kellogg business in the State is extremely good, according to I. R. Wittuhn, secretary of the Standard Radio Co., distributor for the Kellogg in Milwaukee and Wisconsin. Carl Lovejoy, representative for the Brunswick in Wisconsin, reports that portable business is very good at the present time, and this is stimulating record business. There is also good interest in the higher priced units. Inez Maegener, of the sales promotion staff of the Caswell Manufacturing Co., Milwaukee, maker of portable phonographs, has been elected secretary of the company, and will have charge of all its advertising. The Flanner-Hafsoos Music House, Inc., has added the Carryola portable to its line, according to announcement from Eric S. Hafsoos. The store has been featuring a window display of the machines, and Mr. Hafsoos states that he expects some unusually good action on them. The George C. Beckwith Co., of which G. K. Purdy is manager in Milwaukee, is a new distributor for Crosley radios in Milwaukee and Wisconsin. The newly decorated showroom at the Badger Radio Corp., at 480 Market street, has been completed, and Vernon Maurer, president of the corporation, states that the new Majestic receivers and the merchandise of the company now have their proper background. The room is done in Spanish style with serpentine pillars and rough plaster effects. It Is a Sensation! Combination Phono-Radio Cabinet The WELLINGTON Pierson offers this year a wide choice of beautiful cabinets that may be equipped with Electric Phonographs as well as Radio Sets. Again proving Pierson Leadership in the Radio Furniture field. BE FIRST WITH PIERSON I Model No. 863 America's Foremost Line of Radio Furniture The Pierson Company Roekford, Illinois