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Supporting a local music store.....to a point. Bit of a rant as well.

Our local store closed up. Didn’t really cary anything I could have used. Not even the brand of strings I like. However I did try to do as much business in there as I could. Bought a few stands, straps, picks, slides and the like. No idea, no warning, didn’t say anything. Drove up one day and store was gone. Now my nearest store is 20+ miles to the east. Decided to pick up a few things. One stand and a leather strap. Guess I’m used to doing business with the two stores we had in town. And stores farther east and closer into St. Louis. People with competitive prices. I work hard for the cash I spend and like it to go a little ways. Still would like to support a local, or at least close by, store. Honestly I would really like to continue supporting that store. However I could have purchased two stands and three leather straps off of Ebay. And close to that had I shopped closer into the city. It would be nice to support a close buy store. That way if I need something I can drive by and get it. But not at full price or above. There’s an old saying. You can sheer a sheep over and over again. But you can only fleece it once. I’ve been fleeced. Guess that’s my “to a point” point. I’m used to walking into a store and saying “Hey store owner. I need a guitar case!”
Store owner pulls out a catalog and asks “Dude, this one?” Showing me retail price and all.
me, “That’ll do.”
Owner. “ I’ll knock off 10%. Be here in two weeks”
me “Awesome!” will handing him my card.

OK let’s look at the facts. Yes I could have bought the same case off of Ebay a lot cheaper and faster. And no, I didn’t get a discount because we knew each other. I’ve gotten the same ‘knock off some %” of the price being a complete stranger in stores. But not at this store 20+ miles to the east of me. Full price without blinking an eye. Kinda weird, I left the store feeling slated. I know no one has to give anyone a discount. But knowing I can get stuff 1/3 or less in price. Think they guy would have at least been competitive? Nope. Full price. Nope. Not going back.

I know these small stores don’t get things as cheap as the big box outlets do. To me they’re worth paying a bit more to keep them. Go in and talk. Meet other musicians. Kind of the watering hole for the local scene. If you got a good store near by do your best to keep them around. They are worth it. Wish I had a good store near me.

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on January 30, 2015 at 8:20pm

Matthew, I know the experience. Plenty of good help and one snobby owner. We had a huge music store to the east of me. Hundreds of guitars. A forty foot section of wall with three rows of basses alone. Everything from very high end to stuff that looked like guitars. A wide selection of amps and accessories. Even a vintage instrument room. Had singed photos of every big name artist that has toured threw St. Louis all over the walls. The owner of this place treated me like toilet food from day one. You could watch his employees cringe from the way this guy would talk to costumers. Right at the register. To be perfectly honest I was glad to see this store close. Felt bad for the crew of great people that worked there.

There are two music stores less than a five minute walking distance from where we have our monthly gatherings in St. Louis. It actually costs me less to buy things at one of them than it does on Ebay. No shipping charges. Both of these stores are great. Completely different from one anther. One has all the modern gear and accessories. The other is more acoustic and vintage. Always have people milling around or playing on something. Then there are a hand full within a five minute drive from the same location. Including a Guitar Center. Haven't been to all of them. Only four. But each store made me feel good from the time I walked in. Derring and after a sale. It's a good feeling to walk out of a music store and feel appreciated. You want to go back.

There is one store in St. Louis that not only has lessons but live demonstrations as well. They'll have product demos, people from touring bands, who's who of past music. They have a large room just for this. Another store has an in house pro recording studio. They also offer lessons in almost every stringed and percussion instrument you can think of. Both places offer equipment rentals. They offer more than you could get off line.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on January 30, 2015 at 10:15pm

And there's the key: customer service, with a capital S. Funny, I get the occasional brush off from some, not all, of the salesmen at my local Houston, Texas (when I'm back in the States) GC. Part of it is that most of them are working / hardly working musicians that would rather be playing than selling. I get it. But for every snobby pierced tattoo artist who barely takes a look at the greying fat old guy with the scraggly biker beard, I usually find two who are extremely helpful, wanna chat a bit, and even offer to show me some kewl gear or other equipment. I make sure not to monopolize their time too much, because Saturdays are their busiest days. I get there early when the store opens at 10, and try to leave before the headbangers with bored girlfriends or nervous Moms show up around noon.

Especially after I tell em that this is my semi-annual buying trip for strings, parts, straps, cases, and gits, and that I never leave the store without dropping around $500, during the week when I can sneak off from family obligations once or twice. That gets their attention. I usually have a CBG in hand, which gathers looks from the curious, and disbelief when I crank it through the amp display. I find the acoustic room employees have a much better appreciation for this sort of thing than the electric guys. And I never fail to remind them that last year I bought a high end Taylor. Their main problem is that I don't come in dressed like money: I'm big, chubby, much older than everyone except their department managers, wearing jeans, sneakers, a black T-shirt, and a ball cap. Not unlike the employees themselves. Heck, I'm knowledgeable enough to work there, and have occasionally been mistaken for an older employee. Funny thing is, that's exactly who the older, more expensive, customer-oriented git stores, Evans Music City, and Rockin' Robin, realize are their best repeat customers: the guys who've been working for 30+ years at pretty decent paying jobs, who still wanna rock like Elvis, The Beatles, The Who, AC DC, Zeppelin and The Clash. Who can afford the high end gear.

So why do I continue to patronize GC? Location, and selection, primarily. Also, RR and EMC have traditionally focused on touring musicians. They used to have better customer service, too. And broader selection. They maintain because local successful musicians know they can get specialty items (gits and amps, mostly) at better prices than GC. GC trades in the lower to middle end, with only occasional forays into high end. But they are all still viable.

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Permalink Reply by turtlehead on January 31, 2015 at 7:55am

I'm lucky to have a great little shop around the corner and I even work there once in a while. They have a decent selection of beginner to intermediate instruments, amps and sheet music, plenty of strings and accessories, but the bread and butter is lessons. 10 tiny rooms that are filled to the brim with students every night of the week. The lessons are what brings them in and the sales are the gravy on top. We will tell people to order online if they're looking for something in particular or we know we can't beat a deal and folks are really appreciative. It's been going strong for 10 years with no signs of slowing down.

I'm also lucky that my day job takes me to Lansing, MI a couple days a week and I'm only a few minutes away from Elderly Instruments. The greatest music store in the world. Their policy is to let anyone pick up any instrument and start playing. None of this "please ask for assistance" stuff. They let me pick through things like banjo skins to find the one I like. It's like heaven on earth.

Two very different models, but the common theme is down to earth customer service without the holier-than-thou attitude.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on January 31, 2015 at 8:00am

Oooooo, Elderly! Great online presence and service as well!

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Permalink Reply by turtlehead on January 31, 2015 at 8:19am

Yup, they do it right.

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on February 2, 2015 at 5:32am

Yup. Lessons--coupled with merchandising picks and method books--is the way to pay the rent. Just like live performance is the only way to make a living playing. Otherwise the "money guys" can suck all the profit out of the operation and you're just working to make money for someone else.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Vines on February 2, 2015 at 6:04pm

I've got GREAT local store just a few blocks away. They are small but carry a ton of great stuff, (Guitars) because they do a lot of consignment stuff. They carry my stuff on consignment 20% Consignment is a good deal for them because they don't pay for inventory but still make some off the sale. It's good for me because I don't have time to mess with the sales end. The owners are not just retailers, they are players, both in local bands. They are also great consultants for me. They let me know what people are saying about the stuff I make, advise me on how to tweak what I'm doing to sell more. It's a great relationship. They can't compete on parts, but they are cool with that and help when they can.