Your opinions needed!

[jim bevins]

Hello everyone, I'll be opening a Music Store in Ticonderoga,N.Y.(career change)in a month or 2 and I would like your input as to what you would like to see or buy if you walked into a Music Store. I know most of you will probably say "Mandolins,lots of them"! But other than Mandolins(which I will stock)would you look for? I'm not trying to advertise here,I'm just asking for a little help. I've made up a list of items,but there are probably some things I've overlooked,so your help would be helpful!Thanks, Jim

[garyblanchard]

I guess a lot depends on the demographics of your area, what other types of music stores are available, etc. Personally, I look for a decent selection of instruments with a range from the better constructed "cheap" instruments to hte top-of-the-line stuff. Guitars, banjos (open back and resonator), and, of course, mandolins.

[Lee]

Music stores are dreadfully understocked with mandolin strings. Most likely they initially ordered an overall supply but after the "desirable" ones are gone they never re-order. So what remains on the shelf are the off-brand and light gauge sets. I recently tried three local stores before ordering from FQMS.
Mandolin straps are another hard to find item.
See if you can work an arrangement with a local small builder to keep one of his/her mandos on the shelf. (Possibly you can stock it for free?)

[jim bevins]

I agree with you there Lee,the last time I tried to buy a set of Mando strings, all the Store had was Martin Lights. What is your preferred brand?

[Brian T]

I deal with a large chain (guitar center). Not because there are not any local stores, but because the local stores aren't any better than guitar center. I still have to order my Mandolin strings. They carry Martin, D'Addario and even Elixer. My mandolin likes DR strings. They don't carry DR strings for mando.

[Ken Sager]

Wow. Opening a store? You must really love music... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

The best small music stores offer
1) Interesting CDs by local artists. There are plenty of places to get CDs by popular folks, but few places to find local independent talent.
2) New, used, and vintage instruments of quality. Don't try to compete with Guitar Center or Musicians's Friend for the low-end instrument sales, but have something for everyone.
3) Bulk Strings in all guages and the ability to make recommendations on customizing string sets.
4) Quality replacement parts (bridges, nuts, tailpieces, tuners, end-pins, strap buttons, etc.) and the ability to quickly but competently install them for a fair price
5) Tickets to local musical events! Be a ticket outlet for a local venue or organization. Let them advertise your shop on their flyers, etc., and bring people in the door.
6) Real world musical experience and quality. Sometimes you go to a store looking for ideas. Be open to anybody that walks through the door, don't try to sell them just anything, be square with them. They'll recognize it, and thank you for it by giving you their hard-earned money.

That's my list, and it probably isn't what you were asking for. Sincerely, I wish you the best of luck with your new career.

Ken

[sunburst]

Instruments that are set up, in tune, ready to play.
Instruments are shipped with notoriously bad set-ups. if you set yours up, that sets you apart from guitar center and it applies whether you're selling low or high end.

What type of store? What type of instruments? What is your market?
If you know your market, buy to suit that and not necessarily what your sales reps want to sell you.

[sbarnes]

a friend and i were VERY interested in opening a music store a few years ago....all around music store that would service the schools (bands and choirs), rockers, churches, everybody.....
a trusted music store aquantance said it would cost about a million dollars to do it right and if we had a million dollars what the he** did we want w/a music store?
not really on target to your original question but.....

[spud]

Wow!...Ken has six incredable idea's!.....Being square and open to people and having fun with what you do,and how you are with people means alot!!....I have a friend in Indy who has a small store...he interact's with everyone who come's thru the door...great guy!..

He doesnt carry Martin's/Gibson's....but he carries good instument's
from alternative builders....Mid-Mo,Weber,Santa Cruz,Laravee?,Deering
...good stuff...It's tuff for the small guy to have everything..Lot's of strings is alot of $$ and space,each instrument has an equal case ,more space !...functional organization would help alot in your day to day...Having fun!.......

I know nothing!!....

But it's nice to see a store having a mandola or an octave,......
Mandocello's are real nice!!

Good selection of electronic gear, if you think that would be a part of people you think would be coming thru the door?

You can't go wrong with Mid-Mo!..for a good basic mando!

I think it's a noble career change!..Good luck and god bless!

----------
Boyd

[bluegrassjack2]

I'd find a good fairly local luthier and stock some of his products, whatever the instrument is. Of course I'd prefer a good mandolin, ha.

.02.. for what its worth. Have the "very best" instructors you can find as well as friendly knowledgable help if you can't be there all the time. Define your market(unless money is no obstacle)integrate into the community asap. And shoot since you're asking....celebrate all the best small builders by becoming know as "The" store for up & coming builders who offer added value by the price point of their products..throw in a vintage Martin room. Website that has "soundbites" of instruments for sale......and one hot item that keeps 'em coming back.....oh like "strings at cost" or something weird that will creat a buzz. That could be your advertising budget instead of throwing money at newspapers...billboards etc. Great luck to you. Congrats.

[John Flynn]

What I like about music stores:
> Selection of both instruments and accessories
> Selection of instructional materials and CDs
> High quality events like jams and workshops
> Knowledgeable salespeople that are available, but not pushy
> Stores that show leadership in the local music community

What I hate about music stores:
> Bad repair work - This drives me crazy and negates all the good stuff!
> Salespeople who do subtle put-downs of people who they percieve don't play as well as they do - this is very common!

[jim bevins]

Thanks folks for all that input! Some of it I have thought about and some I have not thought about. I agree with selling some of the smaller builders instruments,since they are producing some excellent stuff. And also carrying some quality replacement and upgrade parts. There are not many stores in this area,if any,that handle this sort of stuff. I'm hoping for the best. Live Long and Prosper

[Brookside]

I'm surprised I only saw one guy say it; a selection of instructional material and CD's. I've always thought most music stores were sorely lacking in this. If you have the room you could also host regular jam sessions, before or after hours.

[Greg H.]

To me, one crucial item would be a really good repairman, preferably with a shop in or attached to the store. That would have the dual benefit of having someone who can do top quality set up work and bring in customers who's existing instruments are in need of work. (e.g. the music store with a repair man who could reset the neck on my Martin guitar was rewarded by being the first place I looked when MAS struck again).

[JimF9]

I'd agree with most here. I like a music store with lots of used instruments. One of the most interesting ones I've been in was in Amarillo Texas. I can't remember the name of the place but they had a jam session every Tuesday morning, in the store. The guy that owns the place knows all the local bluegrass players and a lot of the people in the traditional bands. Make your store a place where people feel comfortable hanging out with out having to be sold to. Make it a place to come to see what's going on in the bluegrass community. Sure have stings and straps and things but make your store have some character.

Jim

[Coy Wylie]

Hey JimF9, you have to be talking about Foster's House of Strings. I attend that jam almost every Tuesday and Thursday. You are dead on. The owner's relationship with the area pickers is what has kept him in business for 25 years or more.

[jim bevins]

I've got to say it again, Thanks folks! You people are always there when someone needs help or info! I really like the ideas you people are coming up with,especially the jam sessions at the store,that's great! And having plenty of strings and other accesories.And stocking educational materials. I'll let everyone know when I open and if your ever around Ticonderoga,N.Y. stop in and say hello and maybe jam. Ticonderoga is around 100 miles north of Albany on beautiful Lake Champlain where the battle of independence was fought at Fort Ticonderoga and was a leading factor in our countrys' freedom.

[Walter Newton]

I like it when a store has a side room (where lessons are given, for example) or some kind of enclosed area where you can try out instruments in private, rather than out in the open where a) you feel self conscious because everyone is watching/listening and b) all the other picking is distracting.

One local store used to have instructional videos for rent for $5 a night or so, they've stopped doing it but I always liked the idea.

I also like when the instrument pricing policies are really clear, "no-haggle" and fair - all Fenders X% off list all the time, all Gibsons Y%, etc...

[cdwhit]

I don't beleive only one person mentioned it. KNOWLEDGABLE STAFF. If I want a specific product I can order it over the internet. There is no way you are going to stock every brand string and every make of mandolin, much less all the other instruments, so it's a lost cause to even try.

You probably won't be able to compete price wise with the big guitar center down the road, so don't waste your time.

The 2 places a small store can come out ahead is specialization and knowledge. Speciallization is a gamble based on the market in the area. If there are enough people interested in the Mandolin in that area a specialty store for mandolins might do well, but I personally have never lived in an area with enough mandolin players to support a store.

Knowledge though is a safer bet. I can: 1. go to Guitar center and buy a guitar or mando that is out of tune and not set up, or 2. go to another store and pick up an instrument that the knowledgable employess spend their time tuning and keeping up, try playing it, have an employee that REALLY knows how to play it let me hear what it sounds like, have the neck adjusted get GOOD advise on what accessories I need for a few dollars more. I'll almost always go with the knowledge.

A second thing I think helps is MUSIC. It's a music store, schedule jams, have people that know how (nowledgable employees for example) play STORE INTSRUMENTS from time to time. Keep out MUZAK and have quiet rooms for the kid that had a couple lessons and wants to play a poor rendition of Stairway to Heaven at 198 dB so the rest of the customers don't have to hear it.

[J. Mark Lane]

Ticonderoga? I assume you know the area. It's very pretty, but not heavily populated, and the demographics perhaps do not suggest High End Music Store.

Unfortunately, what most of us "would like to see" in a music store would cost a fortune to stock. High end mandos, guitars, banjos, dobros, bowed instruments... high end electronic equipment... etc. On top of the fact that it would cost a fortune to stock, most of the people who would buy such items would insist on seeing/playing them first. And they are not going to be in your neighborhood. So I think what you really need is not so much comments on what we would all "like to see," but what would actually generate some profits.

In that regard, I would study the local population. Perhaps you can cater to local schools. Work out deals with them. I was in a store in Boston recently that basically seems to survive by its rental program for violins and related instruments through the local school systems. But they also managed to have high end instruments and a nice staff, to service more "serious" needs. Nazareth Music in PA has a similar model.

My suggestion would also be to focus on Internet sales. Look at what Greg Boyd and Stan Werbin have done. Have lots of gear, and a good website. And respond fast. This is critical. Elderly's website is a model to follow. Boyd's is good, too. FQMS has never had a very good website. MandoBros and Gruhn are even worse (but of course have very different marketing opportunities ... and history).

Beyond that, if I were you I would reach out to people like Brian Wolfe, who runs Serious Strings in Guilford, CT. Brian stocks a very, very impressive array of acoustic instruments, in an area that might not be an obvious market for such items. Ask him how he does it.

Best of luck to you, Jim. In the friendliest and most supportive way possible, I would suggest that you will need it.

Mark

[OlderThanWillie]

Fly to Minneapolis & visit the Homestead Picking Parlor. They are a very successful outlet for good CD's, a variety of stringed musical instruments, good repair people, have a list of great instructors and instructional material, they promote visiting musicians, sell tickets to Bluegrass events, and have an online newsletter where they tell you of available CD's to order or purchase in person. They also have jam sessions of differing levels. They are everything a bluegrass/folk/old-time musician could wish for. (I have no financial or other interest in their operation.)

[Steve L]

I really like stores with wide selections of instruction methods, resource books, and tune collections. #

As someone who used to work in a small music store, we made most of our money in lessons, instrument rentals, and accesories rather than volume sales of instuments. #Buying used instuments and consignment sales will also help.

Make sure you are plugged in to the school music deparments in your area. #You might want to contact the deparment heads to see what method books they are using so you can be sure to have them in stock. #And make sure you have things like reeds, mouthpieces, valve oil, and ligatures for wind and reed instruments. #That stuff generates a lot of traffic during the school year.

It sure is nice to have a "quiet room" for trying instruments, but you're paying rent or whatever by the square foot and you want to keep all your space working for you.

Good luck!

[Tom C]

I would think a good idead is to get young people and kids
wanting to play music. Maybe once in a while have some sort of free work shop or concert to introduce people to the instruments. And have instructional material. But, there's so much and you can't stock it all where as an internet company can.

[Brookside]

But, there's so much and you can't stock it all where as an internet company can.
The small retailer always has the internet to contend with these days. I buy plenty from the internet but I will always drive across town and put my hands on it immediately if I have the option. I think most of us want it now.