Re: The End of Guitar Center
What a great summary! It puts a lot of things into perspective.We are living through one of the most dramatic economic revolutions in recorded history. It will dwarf both the agricultural and industrial revolutions of the past and is sweeping through at wild fire pace. Because it is unprecedented, we can't know what will change exactly. And because we are living it, we can't even realize its full impacts.
I might be more emotional about the whole mom & pop thing than most. It is not just about how it touches my life. Most of my family has been self employed for generations. I have always been self employed. My wife came into the business straight out of college. My parents, grandparents, great grandparents, were all self employed.
Like Astro, I don't see all of this as necessarily being a bad thing (much of it is). It will be different (it already is). It is surely not the end of small business! Now brick and Mortar shops? That is another story.... The consumers have spoken and Mom and Pop shops have been voted out. We will see demand for some in certain areas. Others will be a distant memory. Think record shop, book store, electronics store, etc.. Most of these are already endangered species. I am sad to see this part and again, not so much for me, as it has always been a very small percentage of my business. I have always wanted to own a cool acoustic shop that stood on it's own without the internet sales. The reality is that I ship more mandolins in one week than I can sell locally in a year.
It will also be harder and harder for internet stores to compete. There was a time when it was cheaper to launch a website than a physical storefront. That has shifted with the complexity of the market. It is now very difficult (and expensive), to jump into e-commerce at a competitive level. The additional problem is that you are not just competing with well established competitors. There is also a never ending supplying of business that are not sustainable, but do disrupt the market. When one ill advised business jumps in with a crazy 100% trade-in policy, prices that are just too low, or whatever non-sustainable offer, it takes a toll on well run businesses. The ill-run business eventually goes under, but before it does, up pops another and the cycle continues. This is nothing new and competition keeps everything in check. For the most part, this does benefit the consumer. However, there are certain business models that can't stand up to this. The music store is one that is especially vulnerable because of the nature of the product and level of service needed. The B&M music shops that survive will be the standout versions that are exceptionally good at what they do and I don't believe that their main focus can be based around local sales of instruments. They will need multichannel sales and service income streams (this has been the case for years). In fact, even the best shops may find the local instrument showroom to be a liability more than an asset. The only way to change course, will be for the consumer to step in and support local shops. Of course, the online shops have better selection and better pricing, so is this realistic? Probably not.Yes it will be harder and harder for B&M stores to open or compete. More Mom and Pops will do what they can from home. Supplemental income will be everyones strategy.
As Astro points out, this is all accelerating at a rapid pace. I have watched Amazon significantly up the instrument offerings in just the past year. The real game changer, is that I am seeing the manufacturers jump on board with full support of this. This is not just a shift in consumer habits, much of the industry is now embracing the change as well. Maybe they don’t have a choice?
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Originally Posted by Folkmusician.com
Yep. Deja vu.
No nay never would I even start considering going there to buy a mandolin.
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