The early 1990s found me working at Alfred Publishing, and I remember Alfred’s Danny Rocks saying that music stores who compare their operations only to other music stores may be lured into a false sense of achievement. Rocks, who now heads a consulting firm, The Company Rocks, made this point:
Three-quarters of music products dealers responding to a recent MMR e-mail survey on violin-family instrument trends are finding the sales and rental market to be ahead or steady in 2007. More than half rank area school string programs as “very strong” or “good.” The specter of mass merchandisers selling string instruments has had a considerably negative effect at 42 percent of responding dealerships, but the majority sees the big boxes as either not a serious threat or not a factor at all. A majority report step-up sales up or steady this year, and nearly 80 percent expect business to be good or steady in the near-term future. The questionnaire was sent to 1,604 full-line, band & orchestral, and string specialty dealers during the first week of March, 2007.
…she’s ‘inspiring’ others to follow, but Tish Ciravolo pushes forward making quality guitars for a long-ignored segment…For most of us, if we found ourselves suddenly looking at a plethora of competition, it would likely invoke a scowl. But if you saw Daisy Rock Girl Guitars president and founder Tish Ciravolo walking the show floor at the NAMM show, you’d see her wearing a big grin – despite the fact that so many have jumped on the “girl guitar” bandwagon.
The lengthening shadow of mass merchandisers – the proverbial big boxes of the retail world – is casting a pall over the once isolated world of music products retailing. The Targets, Wal-Marts, and Best Buys have intensified and broadened the MI involvement over the last two years, particularly in the category of entry-level instruments and accessories and most notably in guitars and guitar-related merchandise.
