And we wonder why brick and mortar stores fail


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
So the other day I added another guitar to my stable. Leaving me with 3 instruments and only one really good case, one really crappy one and that's it. The really good case is made for the instrument it came with. So, I looked online at Guitar Center who seemed to have quite a few nice cases I could check out for my newest acquisition.
I go in the store in Rockford IL, no cases to be seen anywhere.3 employees are there. Two waiting on people and one just wandering around looking lost. After a few one finishes with customer. So I ask him how I can see cases they might have. He turns and points to a shelf about 12' off the floor. "Oh we keep them all up there". Walks away without another word or offer to help. So SMH I walk out. Come home and simply browse Amazon and make an order.
Not because it's cheaper. Because I actually could buy one.
I did write a stern follow up to Guitar Center. Because they lost my business PERIOD.
 
I went to my GC for a case as well and got the same response. I also brought my Martin 000-15M for a possible trade. It is in very good condition and 2 years old. They told me they would give me 1/4 of the price I paid for it, even though a new one is 30% more than when I bought mine. I still stop in from time to time, but it reminds me of going into a Circuit City during their final days. With online retailers like Sweetwater and the Reverb site, GC is clearly going out of business soon.
 
LMichaels said:
So the other day I added another guitar to my stable. Leaving me with 3 instruments and only one really good case, one really crappy one and that's it. The really good case is made for the instrument it came with. So, I looked online at Guitar Center who seemed to have quite a few nice cases I could check out for my newest acquisition.
I go in the store in Rockford IL, no cases to be seen anywhere.3 employees are there. Two waiting on people and one just wandering around looking lost. After a few one finishes with customer. So I ask him how I can see cases they might have. He turns and points to a shelf about 12' off the floor. "Oh we keep them all up there". Walks away without another word or offer to help. So SMH I walk out. Come home and simply browse Amazon and make an order.
Not because it's cheaper. Because I actually could buy one.
I did write a stern follow up to Guitar Center. Because they lost my business PERIOD.
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After working as a problem solver for Amazon for 7 years, I can tell you that the only difference is you don't deal with the useless people face to face. Work ethic is spread awful thin these days.
 
Guitar cases in music stores must be a PITA. They take up a lot of space. They aren't sexy. Also, you never really know if you want a case until you stick your guitar in there and see how well it fits. Also, three people with the same instrument might insist on a gig bag, a mid-range case, and a tour-rated one.
 
Jason Godard said:
I went to my GC for a case as well and got the same response. I also brought my Martin 000-15M for a possible trade. It is in very good condition and 2 years old. They told me they would give me 1/4 of the price I paid for it, even though a new one is 30% more than when I bought mine. I still stop in from time to time, but it reminds me of going into a Circuit City during their final days. With online retailers like Sweetwater and the Reverb site, GC is clearly going out of business soon.
Click to expand...
I don't think niche retailers are going out of business anytime soon - we need sporting goods stores to help people try golf clubs, bike stores to repair brake cables and bottom brackets, and guitar stores to do trade-ins and advise people on amps, microphones, and string choices.

I did steal several dozen sets of guitar strings from Walmart, however. They came from D'Addario in cases of ten with a cutout to view the UPC code. The price was around $4, so I took the box of ten sets to an employee to verify that the price was correct. She scanned the box and told me the same price. The employee at checkout did the same scan. I very strongly suspect that I purchased strings at 1/10th of the correct price, but if I double check and that's what they sell it to me for, I'll call it a deal. I've putting them on student guitars - its always the high E string that they snap.
 
Guitar Center isn’t going out of business.

I bought my guitar and gear back in high school, late ‘90’s maybe wary ‘00’s, from Musicians Friend. Fast forward a decade and a half and I get my daughter a Mini Strat, come to find out Musicians Friend is owned by Guitar Center. I’ve bought four guitars in the last 5 years and a drum set, all online, from Guitar Center, Austin Bazaar and Sweetwater.

I don’t live anywhere close to any of the bigger music stores and the two local music stores are 25 and 120 miles away, and neither carry Fender stuff in stock
 
I did not mean to say GC was going out of business or HAD gone out. Only that with that kind of lazy attitude by employees in general it is partly what drives people to simply turn to Amazon and the like.
 
I got addicted to Amazon during the covid times and shortages. No outside contacts and no driving all over town to find something nobody had.
The only thing I went to stores for was grocery shopping.
All others it was Amazon if they had it, I ordered it. I still get a lot of things from Amazon been very happy with them.
 
I try to keep the local businesses going..... but sometimes, it's rather difficult. Case in point: I ran short of boiled linseed oil (treating a trailer deck) and ran down to the hardware store on a holiday weekend. Clerk made a [smartass] remark about how lucky I was they were open. "Ya know, I can drive about 40 minutes north to buy this same can...... and cheap enough that the delta will just about pay for my time AND mileage."
 
Our Overland Park GC is very good. I've bought several new and used guitars there and gear out the wazoo and every experience has been good.
 
I believe that we need to keep mom and pop shops open as best as we can, I try to do my part by shopping there when I can.
Simply because if you only have one option.........let's say its Amazon then you have no options.........buy what you want at whatever price they say you can have it at. Kind of like Taco Bell in Demolition man.
I have many reasons and would like it that way too if I had a business.
 
Wait until your sales help is the shopped on Amazon (not the mall) teenybopper generation. Forget trying to make change - they won't even recognize cash.
 
Having worked in brick and mortar “local” shops the bulk of my professional life, I have an interesting perspective on customer service which is joining the endangered species list. Music stores and jewelry stores (my fields) seem to be fading into the woodwork, a GOOD local music store does not exist within 100 miles, Elderly instruments, is in Lansing and it is not just a great brick and mortar they have an un equaled sense of customer service in their online presence! I’ve known these folks since the mid ‘70’s. Excellent people! Guitar Center, is a “Chain” in the worst sense of the word. If there is one person on site that can find their elbow you’re lucky. And as far as repair? Just NO!
Jewelry? Honestly, the internet is killing it very quickly, there are still a few places with staff that understands that service is the thing that separates fine jewelry from the average mall crap but, they are shrinking. I have a few connections with a longtime goldsmith who does beautiful work. I still do a little designing for friends when asked.
I support as many small businesses as I can when I need something but, some people just don’t get it.
 
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