An Article from The Billboard of Jan 29, 1955 -
as part of Billboard's annual Spotlight on R&B
https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/50s/1955/Billboard%201955-01-29.pdf
page 56 here, which continues on page 66 here
one highlight is the extreme importance of what deejays are
playing on air in determining retail sales {hence payola};
another highlight for me, 80+% of singles sold, in early 1955,
are still on shellac {a NYC retailer of R&B said the same};...
Probably the most typical top-
flight rhythm and blues retail
record outlet in Chicago is the
Met Music Shop on East 58th
Street, headed by Maurice Al-
pert.
Alpert entered the business in
June of 1946 directly after his
discharge from the service. He
set up his business without prior
knowledge of the field and has
prospered since then. His area
of patronage is strictly confined
to the rhythm and blues trade
and therefore represents this mar-
ket's buying habits excellently.
The Met Music Shop caters
to most fields of music besides
r.&b., altho the other groups,
such as pop, classical and jazz,
represent only 40 per cent of his
business. The 60 per cent which
represents r.&b. breaks down to
about five sales on 78 to each
sale of a 45 r.p.m. record. His
customers’ tastes vary, with a gen-
erous portion of his trade falling
into the jazz category. Alpert
declared that his r&b customers
are interested solely in r.&b., and
that his jazz customers are inter-
ested only in jazz. These two
groups, according to him, never
intermix in preferences.
Every Label
Alpert carries every r.&b. label
available. His distributors as far
as could be determined, allow
him unlimited credit. Salesmen
report that he is easy to sell on
new items, because he buys a few
of everything and heavy on any
item he feels will move. Reports
indicate that Alpert keeps cur-
rent on new releases by watching
what the deejays are playing and
what numbers are being hit
heavily in the neighborhood juke
boxes.
Explaining his inventory and
stock control methods. Alpert
stated. "The best way for me to
buy is to judge what will be a
seller in my own mind. If I
think it wil sell, I buy plenty.
If I'm not sure, I at least buy a
few. From there I determine
my purchases by what the disk
jockeys play and what my cus-
tomers ask for. I'm not afraid
to buy, and I very seldom run
out of hit items," Alpert esti-
mated his monthly dollar volume
at between $6,000 and $9,000.
Some facts concerning his cus-
tomers include such diversities as
these: R.&.b. buyers don't treas-
ure their records. They play the
shellac right off the top and then
forget about them in favor of
another tune or artist. The r.&b.
buyer is not very hi-fi conscious.
Not many artists are regarded by
these buyers as favorites. Only
a few artists, says Alpert, such
as Muddy Waters, Dinah Wash-
ington, Memphis Slim and B. B.
King, have what is known in pop
stores as a standby market-that
group which will buy an artist
rather than the tune.
The r.&b. fan is more interested
in the music if he is young, and
more interested in the lyrics if he
is older. This customer buys
mostly from deejay airplay or
juke box placement rather than
advertising. Among the pop art-
ists liked by the r.&b. buyer are
Frank Sinatra, Patti Page, Frankie
Laine and such jump tune spe-
cialists as Bill Haley and His
Comets. Even at that, according
to Alpert, "these pop artists have
to have an acceptable vehicle to
be purchased by my trade."
The Met Music Shop is unique
in that it does no outside adver-
tising. Alpert pointed out that
all his previous attempts at ad-
vertising proved to no avail, be-
cause his sales are only made
thru disk jockey plays. "If the
disk jockey doesn't play the rec-
ord, I could advertise it till I’m
blue in the face and it wouldn’t
sell,” he insisted. The store uses
window promotions, counter cards
and four blackboards to push
items in stock or plugged on the
air.
In addition to himself, Alpert
has two helpers and all work at
the counter. He has three booths,
which he claims are not enough,
and one player on the counter.
He has all items, new or old,
listed in stock control books and
identified both by artist and tune
title. A duplicate of this book is
kept on the counter for customer
use. The store does not operate
on a self-service basis. According
to Alpert, his mode of operation
is a better system, because the
customer gets untouched records
and because it cuts pilferage to
zero. Needless to say, Alpert is
very happy in his situation and
looks forward to more and better
business in the future.
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