News
April 11, 2008
The results of an email survey of more than 4,600 U.S. storefronts (both full-line and specialty guitar shops) showed a majority actively cultivating new sources of supply in guitars, basses, and other fretted instruments. Nearly 80% of respondents report adding brands in the electric and acoustic/acoustic-electric segments over the last two years, while just under 60% are merchandising electric basses with new brand names. This adventurous spirit is less evident in non-guitar fretted products where more than 70% have made no additions over the last 24 months.
Tagged : fretted
Internationally acclaimed violinist Mark Wood has played with stars as big as Celine Dion, Billy Joel, and Lenny Kravitz, and is lead violinist for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He has half a dozen CDs on his own and is an Emmy-winning composer. But that’s only part of the story.
Tagged : manufacturing, string instruments, violin
…dealers, suppliers explore effective accessory marketing “There’s been a paradigm shift over the last 10 years in regard to accessories,” says Ted Eschliman of Dietze Music, the four-store Nebraska dealership. “There was a time when you would sell a big-ticket item and then throw a bunch of things in — strings, straps, and so on. That was easier to do when we were making 40 points on an instrument. Now that we’re making 28 points or less, we don’t give accessories away.”
Tagged : accessories, retailers
…margins, terms, quality drive trend toward guitar alternatives What a difference a year makes. When MMR ran an article on guitar trends last year, everything seemed to point to sticking with the “tried and true.” Now, as revealed in this month’s dealer e-survey [page 50] and in speaking with a half-dozen dealers on the topic here, there is clearly a movement to take on a develop new guitar lines.
Tagged : guitars
