The End of an Era: Two Major Music Stores Closing Forever

TWO Guitar Giants Just Closed - Is This the End of Music Stores?

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[RobChappers]

Hi guys, I just wanted to say I think there are some incredible suggestions here and after discussion with some of the unfortunate people who lost their jobs, dealers, distributors and friends, i’ve decided to shoot a follow-up with a compilation of suggestions and advice for smaller Guitar stores to help whether this storm. I very much appreciate the interactions here and it’s great to get the community together even though it’s on a difficult topic :-) 

[stratelicious]

Im old but I miss the experience of walking into a store and trying a bunch of guitars until one speaks to me and feels right. Those were the days

[vdspirit]

As a music shop owner myself [Louandy's in Colne Lancs] I have seen a trend in younger people coming in, trying instruments and buying them. When I asked why they have had a sudden interest in playing guitar they have said that they wanted to do something more interesting than playing games! A lot of my customers like the personal attention and advice I can give them. I have been in the business 34 years and I can still make a profit! Long live rock 'n'roll.

[jonathansmall]

Hi Rob, I bought a new guitar last week. I live in Guildford and I usually buy my instruments from Andertons. Love Andertons, have bought a great PRS there, my wife bought an electric piano there recently and they are great. BUT… honestly, there is very little real personal attention. it is most often super busy on a weekend and it is frankly not the kind of environment in which you can actually sit down and make an informed decision by playing multiple instruments in relative peace. You can’t hear yourself think. So, I drove for over two hours to go to Peach guitars in Colchester and paid £100 more than what Andertons would have sold it to me for. It was worth it… here is why… their model is appointment-based and they spend real time with you in a quiet space. I booked my appointment 2 weeks before, I then spoke to them on the phone so they could have an idea of the sort of thing I was looking for. I arrived to coffee, and the owner personally helped me demo the guitars they had already set aside for me to try. Once I picked something, he gave me a full and lengthy tour of the massive shop, and their impressive collections. Wonderful experience I will always remember. I did not buy a crazy expensive guitar. It was a £1060 Taylor GS Mini. So it was not like I was getting royal treatment for buying a ten grand guitar. It was middle-of-the road, and I even tried stuff half the price of that. I’m going to buy my daughter a cheap first guitar next month, and I will go to Andertons, but when I spend a fair amount of money again, I will go back to peach… because when you are spending what these things cost nowadays, the service becomes important.

[Pjs]

I own a small guitar store, there’s just two of us that run it, and we don’t pay ourselves much, well below the uk average salary. We’ve survived for 12 years, servicing a local community, working pretty much everyday, but I think we’ll not be here much longer if the economy doesn’t and shopping habits don’t change and it’ll cost us everything.

[MuziekwinkelRijswijk]

Hi Rob, thank you for standing up for brick music stores! We're a small music store, opened just over a year ago and we achieve something an online store like Bax cannot manage: community. We've had customers forming bands, employees finding new band members, sharing experiences with recording and playing live. They're younger, so we hope to form the next 'music scene'. We're also directly linked to a music school next door which definitely helps.

[Grenann]

Guitar stores need to become community hubs and not just product retailers. Add on a coffee shop type thing, make somewhere people can hangout and play, chat, etc. and host events. Why guitar/music shops don't have open mic nights seems crazy to me. Motorcycle retailers have been doing this sort of thing for years now, particularly Harley and Triumph. They've built cultures around their bikes and organise group rides, have official club nights, BBQs and so on and are seeing clear increases in sales despite the fact they sell very very expensive "toys" during economic downturns.
Build a culture around a the store that people feel connected to and want to buy from. Right now most stores are souless places trying to sell the same thing every other store is with varying levels of crap to mediocre customer service so why wouldnt people save the hassle and buy online.

[thevelointhevale]

I worked in music stores in the 80's ... have been a session player and toured - I've seen the decline Culturally over the last 35 years. Clubs and live music venues closing ... noise regulations, the shift to Digital Downloading has killed the industry There are many reasons for the overall atrophy but ultimately the heart and soul of the Music Industry was Rock n Roll and Guitars. When you move away from the foundations, you end up with clay ... there hasn't been real music of any stripe for years ... the record companies won AND they lost. The bottom line is everyone has lost out in the end.

[HALman]

Music shops are often where new musicians have their first experience of meeting other musicians. If you lose the shops you lose so many chance meetings, possibilities, scenes. Online is convenient but as someone a little older than Rob we're missing the scene, the lore, the soul that resides in good stores.

[alexandergaldun]

Many, including myself, don't go to stores because they feel uncomfortable. Take me, for example. I'm still a beginner, and I used to not be able to play anything properly at all. So, I go to a store in Berlin, and on every floor, there's staff, all covered in tattoos, standing in groups and chatting with each other. I walked around them once, twice, three times, and then one of them, looking obviously annoyed, started asking me what I wanted, what kind of pickups I was looking for, and so on. When I told him that I didn't know what he was talking about and that it was my first time, he looked at me like I was a lost cause, handed me some guitar, and told me where to sit and where the amp was. He said if I needed anything, I should find him. And there are MANY SUCH EXAMPLES! Especially as a beginner, you feel invisible, and then you just order online. There, you find all the explanations, and you spend your money there, online, without anyone looking down on you.

[michaelantrum]

My son never asks me for anything, so she he asked me for an electric guitar, I was happy to get him one. I took him to the large Gear4Music store in York, who are also very big online. Great showroom, and the staff member was very helpful, but I have a couple of suggestions.

1) My son is 16, which can be a pretty difficult time where kids get embarrassed a lot. Despite being asked on multiple occasions, he was too embarrassed to try and play the suggested guitars in front of all the other customers, especially being a beginner. I'd suggest a couple of soundproof booths where potential customers can try out the guitars in privacy, and also without being drowned out by other customers testing out drum kits and other guitars. He ended up with a Fender Stratocaster, but never actually played the thing until after we got

2) Coffee shop is a great idea. As are customer toilets. People want to spend time checking out all the different instruments - Make a comfortable environment in which people want to spend time. Then they will spend their money....

3) Staff. Get rid of the wannabe rock stars and employ staff that are encouraging and supportive. Many potential customers are quite self conscious - staff are the ones that really make the difference here.

[duanewright]

Musicians NEED stores to walk into and see which instrument speaks to them. People need to play the instrument before they purchase it, especially the more expensive items. We lost our local Sam Ash store several months ago. We still have Guitar Center, but I feel it's a matter of time. I remember putting a $1000 Ibanez in layaway in 1994 as a very young man. I would go play it every time I walked in and made a payment. It was a GREAT day when I finally walked out of the store with it. I still play it to this day.
CHEERS to ALL

[NeuroDrifter]

I run a specialist music store with highly trained staff, top-tier facilities, and an extensive range of stock that’s hard to find anywhere else. The challenge we face is that many customers want to come in, use our facilities, tap into our expertise, and then ask us to match the lowest possible price, often from a box-shifting retailer that offers none of the same experience or service. Sometimes, even after spending 4 to 8 hours with us, they'll still ask us to match a store that's £50 cheaper, and that doesn’t even have the item in stock.

Running a physical store that provides outstanding service and expertise is incredibly tough these days, which is a real shame. There are too many warehouse willing to earn little / no money on their products.

[timx]

Imagine walking into a guitar store in Palo Alto, California, and Jerry Garcia is over in the corner, giving lessons, happy to talk to you about guitars, banjos, styles of playing, and anything else you want to talk about regarding music. That was 62 years ago.

[jeremystephen]

I have shopped at both GAK and Andertons over the years and now live in Guildford. I’m sorry to say that as Andertons grew, GAK just stayed still or regressed. Not just because of the online presence but the store experience. I was in GAk 3 months ago and boutght a stand. The store was dirty, disorganised and full of what seemed very random staff. Andertons ALWAYS has staff I recognise, someone always asks if they can help, it’s organised, clean and friendly. Andertons has a customer experience you come back for. Couple that with the internet reach and it shows what the difference between being hungry and striving for best leads to as against complacency. Very sad for those affected though.

[robertwilliamson]

there is nothing better than going in to a local shop and meeting other players and trying new gear

[benuk]

The problem is multi faceted, having been in music retail since the mid 90’s.

The biggest change I have seen, is not so much online, yes that’s had an impact. But its suppliers, back when I started I could order a couple of Fenders, a couple of Gibson, etc etc.

These days suppliers make you stock a vast range of a single brand, you can’t have just a couple of mex and a couple of US teles, you have to be a full dealer.

It takes away the freedom for smaller stores, as you can’t put your money into various brands, one brand could take up your entire monthly budget. These dealerships don’t account for local trends, seasonal trends, changes in tastes.

It might work for Guitar Centre, G4M, PMT etc, but for the small and medium stores it’s impossible.

Even for the big names, its tough, Gibson make you set up a separate bank account, full of money just for them and they send you what they want you to have and take the money before it’s shipped.

Fundamentally something has to change at supplier to retailer level. The American model of dealerships doesn’t work in the UK,

An obvious example is, Shure microphones.

Best selling microphone the SM58 should be a staple for any music shop. But you can’t just stock them. You have to have virtually the entire shure range. Microphones that you will probably never sell, but have to be bought and paid for just for access to the popular items. Initial buy in is roughly £10k just to set up as a dealer. £10k on microphones! Then they expect you to keep the agreed stocking level for 12 months and turnover a certain amount which will increase for the next year. Absolutely ridiculous and the practice should be outlawed. Or we will lose many many more stores.

Apologies for the essay

[timothyportway]

As the owner of two small music stores, I can say that I believe (unfortunately) your final question/statement was spot on. We are going the way of the local hardware store. The youth are, firstly not interested in music that has actual instrumentation and secondly not inclined to dedicate the time investment and slow burn of improving at an instrument in these instant gratification days. the fall was delayed by two things primarily for the last 20 years or so. Guitar Hero the game was a huge boost to this business and then Taylor Swift's rise to fame got every young girl wanting to strum some open chords. I think it is inevitable and forward thinking people in the industry will start to pivot to the small pockets of the industry that can support a family and staff. Just my 2 cents. thanks for putting a spotlight on it.

[Nnmtes]

I'm an old dude and have been playing guitar for just over 60 years. I still live in a small city that has two guitar / music shops. I buy from either of them when I can. I recently bought an amp from one of them because I could visit, sit down and play through the amp. It's so important to be able to do that, especially for youngsters starting out.

[danoneill]

I'm 54 and a lifelong musician. In my early teens me and my friends would routinely go to the legendary (and now extinct) Around-About-Sound in Cheltenham to drool over the guitars and basses we could never afford. They graciously allowed us scruffy metal kids the chance to try stuff out and it drove my passion further. I played then and I still play (and buy instruments - preferably instore - to this day). Now I have a nine year old son who has just passed his Grade 3 drums with flying colours and is a massive fan of Green Day. IMO the reason kids don't get into music is because the way in which it is consumed now does not engender tribal loyalty to a musical genre. The event of an album release, the wait, the saving up. When I started secondary school in 1982 there were tribes of Skins, Mods, Goth's, Punk, Ska kids, Metalheads - people followed bands and identified. Now it's become a lot more shallow - products, games, beauty fixations, all driven by exploitative social media which is only about now, now, now and more, more more. Did someone say 'We Gotta Take the Power Back'!!?