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Article: Blowing a sweet horn. (Selmer Co.) (company profile)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- April 23, 1988
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SELMER is to the saxophone as Stradivarius or Guarneri are to the violin. For jazzmen, there is none better-and jazz is back in fashion. The 103-year-old family firm also makes woodwinds, brass instruments and accessories, but 55% of Selmer's turnover of FFrl3Om ($22m) in 1987 came from its saxophones.
In the 1970s Selmer hit unaccustomed trouble from its choosy clientele and from japanese competitors. For a period, Selmer risked losing its single greatest asset: word-of-mouth in the trade that Selmer was top.
Between 1954 and 1973, when Selmer sold 150,000 Mark VI tenor saxophones, the instrument became a jazz legend. Feeling (it's not clear why) a ...