Summer NAMM 2012

“The dealers and exhibitors who came to Summer NAMM were laser-focused on success,” observes NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond. “The NAMM U courses were full, the Top 100 Dealer Awards event was a ‘who’s who’ in music retailing, and the vendor community came ready to help dealers plan the fall and holiday selling season.

“Next year, we’ll build on this platform and move into the new state of the art Music City Center. Scheduled to open just prior to Summer NAMM, this venue will be an outstanding place for our members to show new products, plan out the rest of the year’s purchases and learn and network with their friends and peers”

Official statistics indicate that Summer NAMM saw more overall business than last year – the number of retail buyers increased 20 percent compared to 2011.  Additionally, there was a reported nine percent increase in exhibitors from 2011 to 2012, with a total of 372 suppliers.

But do attendance figures tell the whole tale?  After each significant MI trade show, MMR hears from at least a few who believe reported numbers were “padded” and stats inflated to put an unrealistically upbeat spin on things.  Sometimes such comments come off as nothing more than sour grapes or just flat out negativity for the sheer sake of it. Other times, though, it’s hard not to agree that “official” reports need to be taken with a grain of salt…

So what to make of Nashville 2012?  Based on what we witnessed and the feedback we received from those whom we spoke with, it’d seem that NAMM’s take on the gathering is fairly spot-on: The Summer convention is unquestionably a smaller (smaller than Anaheim, Fankfurt, or China, but hardly “small”) show, a show that may still be “finding its way back” after the initial departure from “Music City USA” a few years ago and the subsequent nation-wide recession, but one that definitely has its supporters, a show where business is done and meaningful connections are made. It’s a show with its own unique character and appeal.

Video interviews from Summer NAMM:

Part 1: Harvey Levy (Levy’s Leathers), John Musselman (American Way Marketing) and Gary Lenaire (Roland/Boss).

Part 2: Larry Goldstein (Cort Guitars) and Mike Martin (Casio America)

Part 3: Mike Matthews (Electro-Harmonix), Randall Williams (Kyser Music Products) and Mike Montefusco (Taylor Guitars)

Part 4: Brian Dougherty (Samson), Bryan Loy (Paradise Music) and Daniel Cooper (Coopercopia).

Part 5: Jeff Bertrand (Bertrand Music Enterprises) and Kathy Johnstone (Alfred Publishing).

While many noted the absence of certain dealers (and suppliers), when compared to “the good old days” of Summer NAMM, at the same time most reported that the smaller scale of the Nashville get-together allows for more worthwhile conversations between vendors, suppliers, and distributors.  In other words: the three days on the show floor in Tennessee seem to have been more about quality than quantity.

“Summer NAMM is still a place that I can go to meet with 30-40 quality contacts in our industry over three days, which makes it worth my time,” said D’Addario’s Peter D’Addario. “Business was steady, we met with several dealers and it was worth our while to be there. We don’t expect to write much business at the trade show, but we still do some business in our booth. The NAMM show has transitioned over the years from a sales show to a ‘show and tell’ type event.”

Chip Averwater of Amro Music and author of Retail Truths: The Unconventional Wisdom of Retailing chats with NAMM’s Joe Lamond at Thursday morning’s Retail Summit.

Monte Montefusco of Taylor Guitars had a similar assessment, saying, “Taylor Guitars approaches the Summer NAMM show as an opportunity to thank our dealers for their support during the first half of the year. If you look around our display area, you won’t see order forms or sales managers pressuring dealers for purchase orders… The pace of the Nashville show allows us to spend time with our existing retail partners and get to know potential new dealers.  My perception was that dealers are more positive and upbeat than they were in 2011. Business for Taylor continues to be stronger than ever and our dealers are reporting positive sell-through statistics. I feel great people, great fun, and of course great music will continue to bring NAMM members to Nashville.”

“Summer NAMM continues to be a great place to have productive and meaningful meetings with retailers,” agreed David Jahnke of Hal Leonard.  “The fact that it’s not an overwhelming sensory overload show like Winter NAMM gives us the opportunity to dig in deeper with the dealers who are there.”

Mike Shellhammer of Morgan Hill Music tied in the relative dearth of attending dealers to the evolving nature of MI retail and Internet sales: “I hate to say it, but there are a lot less dealers now than in years past. You have the big chain stores: Musicians Friend, Sweetwater, Amazon, et cetera. After that, the pickings get skinny. It is really tough for an independent retailer to make it now unless he is Internet-based and knows that business side of it. I think that you will see a day where dealers have a showroom with only one of each product to show and that product will not be for sale, just display. If the customer wants one, he will step to one of the dealers dedicated computers and order it. Or have a sales associate help him place the order on his smartphone. Kind of sad, but that is what I see. Look at how a lot of your own shopping habits have changed now, and it is just beginning. Kind of scary. It doesn’t really affect the manufacturers that much, as we just sell more products to less dealers and Internet sales companies. We would like to sell more to the independent dealers, but it is not our choice. It is just the effect of the paradigm shift in retail that is going on right now. Just my thoughts.”

New Digs = New Life?

There was also widespread curiosity – and in some cases, overt optimism – about the effect that the new facility for 2013 Summer NAMM might have on attendance and exhibitor count.  “I believe the new convention center will spur an increase in manufacturer and dealer attendance at Summer NAMM,” asserted Montefusco.  “Having a brand new facility to display gear and spend one-on-one time with dealers will be a great way to fortify relationships between retailers and the brands they support.”

Harvey Levy of Levy’s Leathers believes the move will spark interest with both attendees and exhibiting companies, but that it’ll take a couple years to determine whether the new facility has a lasting positive impact on Summer NAMM: “I expect next year we’ll have a bunch of people coming out to see what that new convention center is like, so I don’t think you’ll be able to judge the effectiveness of moving to that new facility until you do the second year.”

Others, like Jahnke, believe the new location will have a minimal, perhaps incidental, impact on next year’s Nashville gathering, but remains optimistic about the Show’s future: “While it’s always cool to check out shiny new buildings, we’re guessing the economy will still play the biggest part in determining the attendance at the show.  There are dealers and vendors who are watching every penny that comes in and goes out, and that’s okay.  We believe there is still a lot of interest in SNAMM and more dealers will be committed to returning once the economy improves and their business is stabilized.”

Rise & Shine…

For those “morning people” who were already up and running at full steam at 8 AM – as well as for those who dragged themselves out of bed in order to attend – the NAMM Breakfast Sessions once again proved to be a high point of the Show. The events offered insight into the industry, helpful suggestions about thriving in the current market, ample amounts of levity, and (of course) a delicious breakfast, on the house.

The first day of this July’s gathering kicked off with the NAMM Retail Summit, featuring NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond and Chip Averwater, chairman of Amro Music Stores.   The two used Averwater’s recent book, Retail Truths: The Unconventional Wisdom of Retailing as a springboard for conversation, as Lamond led the author through some of the larger themes discussed.

“The owner’s vision is adopted by the staff, his priorities become the goals, his habits become the standards, and his style becomes the culture,” Lamond said early in the session, quoting from Retail Truths.  Averwater expanded on the how the character – and ultimately success (or failure) of any retail operation – starts at “the top,” explaining, “It may sound funny, but I think a store really is a work of art.  If you think about it, it emanates from the founder’s vision, it’s created according to his abilities and his talents, and it’s made inevitably unique by our own personalities.”

Throughout the conversation, basic concepts such as effective leadership, focus, and adaptability were hammered home, with one of the primary points being that those operations that are organized and dedicated to a shared vision wind up being successful.  Or as Averwater stated, towards the end of the morning: “The one who wins is the one who gets the most details right.”

The Summer NAMM end-of-show drum circle.

Joe Calloway was the featured speaker during the NAMM Breakfast Session on Friday, July 13, presenting a session called “Becoming a Category of One,” which focused on how to differentiate one’s business from the competition. Calloway’s introduction featured an image of three red apples in a row, with a green apple set off to the side, and the question, “How do you get to be the green apple instead of another red apple?” Setting one’s business apart from the competition is the key to market share, he noted, and there are a number of ways to achieve this: customer service, a good story line, and attractive presentation can help, but the key is to be the best at what matters most.

“Simple is always more effective than complicated,” said Calloway, paraphrasing Steve Jobs. He then asked audience members to brainstorm where new ideas are found. Responses included: on airplanes, while mowing the lawn, in the car, and, of course, at the NAMM Show and during the Breakfast Sessions. Because constructive and creative ideas can be spawned in so many different areas, Calloway recommended looking at successful businesses in a wide array of industries to find what they’re doing well and perhaps how some of those ideas or concepts might be translated into the MI retail, distribution, or manufacturing industry. “People at great companies are always looking for good ideas,” he confirmed.

While everyone in the audience agreed when Calloway suggested that constant improvement is imperative to survival, not everyone was as confident that they were constantly improving in their own businesses.  To this point, Calloway suggested, “If you’re successful, you know what used to work.” In other words, successful business strategies must be so nimble that they can continually adapt to ever-changing demands in the marketplace.

The session closed with the reminder that ideas are worthless if they aren’t acted upon. Joe Calloway noted, “As Andy Samburg of “Saturday Night Live” said: ‘Our show doesn’t start when it does because that’s when we’re ready.  It starts then because it’s 11:30 on Saturday night.’ Taking action is the only way to make ideas worthwhile, and now’s the time.”

NAMM Top 100 Dealer Awards

“The Top 100 is an opportunity for NAMM retail members to find inspiration in, while giving recognition to the innovative, proactive business ideas of peers from around the country,” said NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond. “We hope that NAMM members enjoy this opportunity to celebrate success, while networking with 100 retail leaders in the music products industry in one room.”

For the second year, a panel of “impartial, expert judges” selected by, but not otherwise affiliated with NAMM, selected Top 100 dealers using a numeric rating based on five main criteria. Then, the panel scores retailers’ submissions for awards in ten other specific ‘Best of’ categories. Then scores are tallied and stores are ranked to reveal the music product industry’s ‘Dealer of the Year.’

Dealer of the Year
Alto Music, Middletown, NY

Best Ad
Music Villa, Bozeman, MT

Best Curb Appeal
Ted Brown Music Co. – 4 locations in Washington

Best Emerging Dealer “Rookie of the Year” 
Downtown Piano Works Frederick, MD

Best Emerging Dealer “Rookie of the Year”
NOVA Music Center, Clifton, VA

Best Merchandise & Display (Tie)
Candyman Strings & Things, Santa Fe, NM
Amro Music Stores, Inc., Memphis, TN

Best Rock School & Summer Rock Camps
Candyman Strings & Things, Santa Fe, NM

Best Sales Promotion
Piano Gallery, Orem, UT

Best Use of Social Media (Tie)
Summerhays Music Center, Murray, UT
Music Villa, Bozeman, MT

Support Music Local Advocacy Award
Amro Music Stores, Inc., Memphis, TN

Best Website
The Music Zoo, Rosyln, NY

Wanna Play “Music Makes A Difference”
Candyman Strings & Things, Santa Fe, NM

Next year’s Summer Session will be held July 11 – 13 in Nashville at the new Music City Center.