Short music store rant!!!

[pbass6811]

:rant on: Is it just that fiscally irresponsible to stock SOME of the products from the brands they carry? I'm thinking about getting into Genz Benz gear. There's 2 music stores in my area that are listed on Genz Benz's site as dealers. I go to the one closest to me yesterday(the "mom & pop"place, and they have one OLD combo and the smallest Shuttle combo GB makes! That doesn't help. They tell me "If we get a buy, we'll order some..." Ok, well there's another dealer. I make the trek to the OTHER side of town, to the other big chain store...they have NONE! I'm irritated, so I figure I'll just get some strings and be on my way. I normally just use D'Addario's but I have a set of DR Black Beauties on my Spector Euro 4LX and they have lasted FOREVER, so I thought since I just got a new black Spector Forte 5, that I'd put a set of those on there and see if I get the same kinda longevity(my 5s are all I gig with, the 4 only gets used for practice and recording right now). I see the 4 string Black Beauties, but not one single 5 string set! REALLY? Is it taking up that much of your working capital to keep a few different things from each manufacturer in your store? The chances are fairly good that I woulda bought something if you'd had something in stock I could have tried out! I hate buying amps w/o trying them out 1st! I can prolly take a leap of faith with Genz Benz stuff, but normally I wouldn't. If you're gonna be a dealer, how about you keep some stuff in stock to deal on? :rant off:


Hmm...I'm still irritated.

 

[KsPiNeSh]

That's business for you. They know what they need to do to survive... doesn't mean that it doesn't suck for us shoppers

 

[Pilgrim]

The higher end stuff costs more to floor. With business lagging in many areas, it's not a surprise that dealers tend to stock lower-priced gear that will turn over quickly and costs less to keep on hand.

Strings? Although we have a very good local music store (which does stock a couple of Genz-Benz items, but not many) but I don't even try to buy locally - I prefer flats, which they don't carry with any selection, so I go to Juststrings.com and order from there.

If you're really serious about a G-B amp, talk with them and see if they'll order one on spec. Tell them that if you like it, you'll buy it - you could even talk $ before they order. Just tell them you GOTTA like it or no deal.

The worst they can say is no.

 

[onlyclave]

If you're really serious about a G-B amp, talk with them and see if they'll order one on spec. Tell them that if you like it, you'll buy it - you could even talk $ before they order. Just tell them you GOTTA like it or no deal.

The worst they can say is no.

And they'll tell you if they order it in, you GOTTA buy it or no deal. That means prepaid in advance, no return, no refund whether you like it or not. Mom and Pop shops are not made of money and if you tie up their operating capitol with an expensive amp that they can't turn before the bill is due then they are stuck trying to sell it at cost or a loss and meanwhile having even less money to stock high velocity things like strings, etc.

Any shop that makes orders on spec like that is soon out of business. "Window shoppers", "Looky Loos", and "Strokers" don't pay the bills.

 

[Pilgrim]

Depends on the shop. Maybe yes, maybe no. If they're really tight on $, then probably yes.

Alternative: tell them if they wanna sell it, they gotta floor it...or you'll go elsewhere. that's not a threat, it's reality. Maybe they just can't afford to floor the G-B line now, in which case they will have to accept passing the sales on those items to other stores.

 

[whocaresnotme]

With the advent of online merchandising the standard "music store" really no longer exists. Even GC only has entry level instruments because that is all they sell.

When I was young in the 60's and 70's the local music store was where all the local musicians hung. There was a mystique about it. I still remember the first time I laid eyes on a Fender Jazz Bass in the local store. Wow, what a rush. That may still exist somewhere but I haven't seen it in a long time. I deliberately avoid music stores. It seems useless to put out the effort.

 

[hasbeen]

I feel your pain on this subject. That is why I came out with a new dealer program this year: Genz Benz "Showroom" Dealer.

Dealers that participate agree to keep some core product on their floors. We will indentify who these dealers are on our website and take other measures to hi-lite them as a quid pro quo for their support.

We should be done building the landing page on our site, identifying them in the next couple of weeks.

I apologize for your hassle but I thank you for your interest.

 

[pbass6811]

I feel your pain on this subject. That is why I came out with a new dealer program this year: Genz Benz "Showroom" Dealer.

Dealers that participate agree to keep some core product on their floors. We will indentify who these dealers are on our website and take other measures to hi-lite them as a quid pro quo for their support.

We should be done building the landing page on our site, identifying them in the next couple of weeks.

I apologize for your hassle but I thank you for your interest.

Thanks for the reply! I really do appreciate it and that actually deepened my interest in Genz Benz! Let's us know that some companies still care!

 

[baalroo]

These places are businesses and they tend to stock the things that sell. The brick and mortars that are left understand what part of the market they are serving, and are smart enough not to attempt to sell high end stuff that's unlikely to move off the shelves at a fast enough pace to pay the bills. Going to a music store and expecting them to just happen to have the specific cab or amp you are looking for sitting in their showroom is completely unrealistic. I can't even fathom how you could expect otherwise, or how you could take offense to the experience you had. A store in a midsized city that carries hundred's of thousands of dollars worth of various bass amplifiers and cabinets would be a complete fool's venture and to expect any owner of a business to be so foolish is actually almost insulting... but that is exactly what you are expecting these stores to do in the OP. Unless maybe you think that each local store should just be an authorized dealer of a single brand of gear?

 

[pbass6811]

These places are businesses and they tend to stock the things that sell. The brick and mortars that are left understand what part of the market they are serving, and are smart enough not to attempt to sell high end stuff that's unlikely to move off the shelves at a fast enough pace to pay the bills. Going to a music store and expecting them to just happen to have the specific cab or amp you are looking for sitting in their showroom is completely unrealistic. I can't even fathom how you could expect otherwise, or how you could take offense to the experience you had. A store in a midsized city that carries hundred's of thousands of dollars worth of various bass amplifiers and cabinets would be a complete fool's venture and to expect any owner of a business to be so foolish is actually almost insulting... but that is exactly what you are expecting these stores to do in the OP. Unless maybe you think that each local store should just be an authorized dealer of a single brand of gear?

No, what I expect is that if a store claims to be a dealer of a brand, that they would stock SOME items from that manufacturer. If you think that's unrealistic, your expectations are excessively low! I'm not saying that a retailer has to stock EVERYTHING that all of their suppliers make, that would, indeed, be foolish, but if you are going to tout that you are a dealer of XYZ products, wouldn't it be prudent to stock SOME of XYZ's products? I have no doubt that the reason that GC/Sam Ash/any music store stocks a truckload of cheap, sorry, inexpensive, gear, is that it sells quicker. But if you're gonna sit there and tell me that a wall full of $3k+ PRSs & Gibsons and not one single Genz Benz amp or cab is "understanding the market they're serving", then we have a totally different idea how the retail business works...perhaps you should re-read my post, I just asked for SOME, not ALL.

 

[hasbeen]

a challenge for us "bass-centric" manufacturers is that there are more store managaers/buyers/owners that are guitarists than bassists.

This can cause a paradigm in their thoughts on what could and couldn't sell for them. If you walk in a store and see a lot of PRS and Gibson but the only basses are import for less than $800.00.....chances are, they won't have Aguilar, Genz, Euphonics Audio, Glock....etc.

 

[pbass6811]

a challenge for us "bass-centric" manufacturers is that there are more store managaers/buyers/owners that are guitarists than bassists.

This can cause a paradigm in their thoughts on what could and couldn't sell for them. If you walk in a store and see a lot of PRS and Gibson but the only basses are import for less than $800.00.....chances are, they won't have Aguilar, Genz, Euphonics Audio, Glock....etc.

I hear what you're saying, hasbeen, and I understand the position that all the "bass-centric" manufacturers are in. I'm sure you don't like this anymore than I do. I completely get that. It's that "paradigm shift" in their thinking that brought this rant about! Most everyone that is posting is using the "it's the economy" reasoning, which is totally valid. I just don't understand why, if the economy is so bad and the music store is trying to stock product that's going to sell quickly to keep the working capital flowing, would they keep a multitude of really expensive guitars hanging around? If they're not selling, they're taking up space that could be used to display less expensive guitars that would move quicker. If they ARE selling, then the economy may not be as bad as we all think, which brings me back to my original point...

I'm not trying to fight the system. I was really just venting. I'm just lucky enough that as a musician, I'm in a position that affords me the opportunity to get the gear that I want. I'm not gonna go picket the local music shops just because they don't have what I want. I'll continue to get it from wherever it's available. BUT, I still say that if you want to be listed as a dealer of XYZ Products, you should stock SOME(I said "some", not "all"--are we clear on that?)of XYZ's products.

 

[Rocky]

No, what I expect is that if a store claims to be a dealer of a brand, that they would stock SOME items from that manufacturer. If you think that's unrealistic, your expectations are excessively low! I'm not saying that a retailer has to stock EVERYTHING that all of their suppliers make, that would, indeed, be foolish, but if you are going to tout that you are a dealer of XYZ products, wouldn't it be prudent to stock SOME of XYZ's products? I have no doubt that the reason that GC/Sam Ash/any music store stocks a truckload of cheap, sorry, inexpensive, gear, is that it sells quicker. But if you're gonna sit there and tell me that a wall full of $3k+ PRSs & Gibsons and not one single Genz Benz amp or cab is "understanding the market they're serving", then we have a totally different idea how the retail business works...perhaps you should re-read my post, I just asked for SOME, not ALL.

Its a real tricky situation for a music store to stock higher end gear especially in this economy. I go to a not so local store in Montrose CA (Graysons Tune Town) and they have a great selection of low, medium, and higher priced Gibson,Fender, Martin, Rickenbacker, and Gretch guitars and Basses. Do they have every thing? No, but they will special order if you need a specific model, and they do have a great selection to begin with. They have been in business since 1953, and Ken is a great person to do business with. I have bought from this location several times now, and they always exceed my expectations. My latest purchase was a 64 CS limited J-bass that was a special order. I did give them a deposit, but it was with the understanding that if for some reason I did not like the bass I was not obligated to buy it. There are still good places to buy gear in this world, but they are getting more and more scarce. Graysons has always beaten the competition price wise, but even on a few items that cost more than I would have paid at GC I still buy form Ken because I want him to stay in business, and the customer service along with well cared for products makes it worth it for me. Just so you know I am not affiliated with Graysons Tune Town in any way other than being a loyal customer.

 

[lowfreq33]

Where I used to live there was an awesome shop that carried only high end stuff (last time I checked they were the #2 PRS dealer in the world. Had lots of great high end basses and acoustics, There were easily $100,000 worth of instruments in there at any given time.

Then slowly I started to see some different things... a Fernandez here, an Ibanez there... pretty soon about 1/3 of the inventory was in the under $500 category. I never really asked the owner about it, because it was pretty obvious. Selling only high end stuff is risky.

Sure, if you sell a BMW you'll make more than if you sold a Ford, but if you sell 10 Ford's for every one BMW, the Ford's are making you more money.

 

[pbass6811]

Ok, I just wanna say that I appreciate everyone's opinions and replies, it all makes sense! I do want to clarify EXACTLY what I've been saying since it seems that there is a little disconnect. I'm going to use what is applicable to me since it's what started this...

I am interested in Genz Benz stuff. As most consumers probably would, I went to their website to gather as much info as I could on their products and to find out if there were any dealers in my area. It turns out there are a couple within 25-30 miles. I go to one dealer and he has a couple of pieces, although I believe one of them is a discontinued piece. Ok, it's not much, but at least he has SOMETHING! It's not what I'm looking for, so I go to the other dealer that's listed on the GB site and they have NOTHING! This whole diatribe isn't about music stores carrying high end gear or stocking everything from any manufacturer, it's simply about if you say you're a dealer of Genz Benz stuff, or ANY manufacturer for that matter, keep SOMETHING(not EVERYTHING)in stock! I could care less if GC never stocks another bass that cost more than $1k! They could cut their bass stock in half and I'd be ok...but if they say they're a (insert some brand here)dealer, then they need to have something for people who have gone thru the trouble of looking something up, finding out who carries it, and making a trip to that place, to at least look at! That's all I'm saying

 

[jive1]

The manufacturers are as much to blame on this. Some have no problem with a dealer who is only a dealer in name that doesn't stock their product, or only 1 item.

As a Genz Benz dealer, who stocks product, I'm glad they're moving toward rewarding dealers who actually stock their product and sell it, as opposed to just being a glorified order taker. It's the best for dealers, consumers, and manufacturers. Dealers who stock product get the sale, consumers don't waste time on dealers who don't actually carry or know the product, and the manufacturers can focus on the folks who actually invest in their product.

 

[pbass6811]

The manufacturers are as much to blame on this. Some have no problem with a dealer who is only a dealer in name that doesn't stock their product, or only 1 item.

As a Genz Benz dealer, who stocks product, I'm glad they're moving toward rewarding dealers who actually stock their product and sell it, as opposed to just being a glorified order taker. It's the best for dealers, consumers, and manufacturers. Dealers who stock product get the sale, consumers don't waste time on dealers who don't actually carry or know the product, and the manufacturers can focus on the folks who actually invest in their product.

THIS is what I wanted to hear! Thanks for the input! I am going to look for your website...Ah, it's in your sig! Good deal..

 

[Number27]

well your first mistake was to not be a guitar player...


but yea i feel your pain, especially with the strings.

 

[queevil]

:rant on: Is it just that fiscally irresponsible to stock SOME of the products from the brands they carry? I'm thinking about getting into Genz Benz gear. There's 2 music stores in my area that are listed on Genz Benz's site as dealers. I go to the one closest to me yesterday(the "mom & pop"place, and they have one OLD combo and the smallest Shuttle combo GB makes! That doesn't help. They tell me "If we get a buy, we'll order some..." Ok, well there's another dealer. I make the trek to the OTHER side of town, to the other big chain store...they have NONE! I'm irritated, so I figure I'll just get some strings and be on my way. I normally just use D'Addario's but I have a set of DR Black Beauties on my Spector Euro 4LX and they have lasted FOREVER, so I thought since I just got a new black Spector Forte 5, that I'd put a set of those on there and see if I get the same kinda longevity(my 5s are all I gig with, the 4 only gets used for practice and recording right now). I see the 4 string Black Beauties, but not one single 5 string set! REALLY? Is it taking up that much of your working capital to keep a few different things from each manufacturer in your store? The chances are fairly good that I woulda bought something if you'd had something in stock I could have tried out! I hate buying amps w/o trying them out 1st! I can prolly take a leap of faith with Genz Benz stuff, but normally I wouldn't. If you're gonna be a dealer, how about you keep some stuff in stock to deal on? :rant off:


Hmm...I'm still irritated.

Man, I feel your pain but I also understand why they do what they do, well.....most of the time. It's irritating. My local dealer sells Orange amps and I wanted to try out their amps and cabs. However, they don't stock them. They stock a couple of guitar heads and cabs and some of the low priced combos. But ask yourself this. If they order it how long will it take to move it? If it takes forever how much will the distributor allow them to discount it? Will they at all?

They know what they need to stock. They know what items sell well, provide the most margin and therefore the most positive cashflow. The biggest reason for business failure is a lack of cash. Any business.

I guess the reason for my perspective is that I've worked quite a bit in retail and it is what it is no matter the product being sold.

My solution: buy used. Why? The used market has a near endless variety of the crap that I want. In the last 10 years I've bought cables, strings, a rack case and a fuzz pedal new. That's it. Everything else was used and I got good deals to boot. I once bought two Hartke cabs for $250. That's a good deal whether you like their stuff or not(I didn't but hey they served me well for a while).

The state of our economy affects music retailers and therefore us. So, sometimes going through other channels is our only recourse.

 

[pbass6811]

Believe me, guys, you're right about being a guitar player! If I could do it all over again...I'd still be a bassist!

queevil- I know you're right, bro. I'm a retail store manager myself, that's why this bothers me so much. I see the results of this thinking every day and I'm the one who gets to deal with it!