Best location for an up-market Guitar shop

Lodious

I don't think anywhere with a lot of passing trade (like the trafford centre) is going to be good for a high end shop. I think Coda / Sounds Great / World Guitars probably do well as generally people will have to make a bit of an effort to get there....you don't want people killing time by trying 5k '59 reissues while their wives get their flaps waxed.

mike_l

Coda (Stevenage) has a decent carpark on the road behind their's. I found it by accident a couple of years ago....

Parker

A shopping centre is suicide for any non-chain shop due to rents and taxes. Seen a couple of guitar shops try the model and fail. A shop in Gloucester Quays, Modern Music in Reading, I think the original Rainbow Music, and Dolphin Music in Newcastle were all in malls IIRC. There is Imported Instruments which seems to have made it work somehow (guessing ground rents in Dundee would be massively lower than the Trafford Centre!),  

In terms of affluent areas, Jam Guitars near Clifton in Bristol (with a mix of professionals and wealthy students not getting in to Oxbridge) went under in a couple of years. Oxford Guitar Gallery is another victim. Vintage and Rare Guitars in Bath has moved to a smaller shop, changed ownership and sold off the London store. Seems to tick over nicely now though.

Basically, the model of making money from instruments (as already alluded to in another thread about openning a shop) is to already have a lot of it! The golden era is gone....the internet has openned the market place to make anyone an expert. Say I found an old bike in the garage of a house I bought, I could probably know its worth and history in five clicks of a mouse. I could sell it at its market rate in another five. This ability has disipated expertise across a larger spread, making anyone with even a minor interest in a subject, a temporary expert. I'd sell that bike, bank the money and forget everything I had learnt.

Boards like this are another example of knowledge distribution. We have all learned something from someone here. That means selling a Gibson Les Paul at anything other than a 'lean' price is impossible these days. We all know the current worth. We all know what sells quickly. These are fast times. Shops are anything but fast. They are a hinderance on profit and will make the difference between a successful business and a bankrupt one.   

joeyowen

well said @Parker

A lot of truth in that post

Panama_Jack666

Harrogate

It's up north where we are few and far between with Coda's/Andertons/GAK e.t.c.

Also Harrogate is full of people with too much money and tourists. I am neither of these but I do like a custom shop!

BigMonka

A big out of town unit with enough private audition rooms for people to give the equipment a proper go in their own time. And decent coffee available.

Probably quite near one of the out of town shopping centres (even just Tesco/Sainsburys etc) so you can drop the missus off then go and oggle guitars.

Flink_Poyd

Just because an area is "affluent" doesn't automatically mean guitar players and more importantly buyers.

Drew_TNBD

I'd probably leave it in your head.

fretmeister

Next to the M1 / M6 junction for easy access by everyone, and far less land expense than anywhere near London.

maltingsaudio

Interesting that most comments have been along the lines of drop the other half and go and look at guitars...... this is why most retailers are struggling, it should read drop the other half off and go and buy a guitar. As Tonecontrol has suggested this is a shop which stocks high end stuff the bloke who opens it would  be better off opening a guitar museum with a gift shop these days.

crunchman

capo4th said:

Transport links - most people spending £2000 like to run their fingers on the frets. So open near junction 19 on the M25 and you will be fine. Convert an industrial unit which will have parking and the space you require for your high end emporium.

@capo4th is definitely on the right path.  Between the junctions of the M25 with the M1 and M40, and within reach of M4/M25 junction.  I've often travelled for an hour to get to a guitar shop. At this location you'd probably have 15 million people within an hours drive, and some more from East London who might not be within an hour, but would still find this easier to get to than somewhere like Guitar Village, Andertons, or Guitar Guitar - the North Circular is a lot better than the South Circular.  You might be better off near Junction 18 though so you are closer to Tube/Rail at Rickmansworth.  There is a big market in London who would travel that way

@Panama_Jack666 - Harrogate might be well off compare with most of the North but it's population isn't that big (75,000) and it's surrounded by nice countryside, not other built up areas.  There are not enough people within an hour or so drive to make it viable for a really high end shop.

Other place that might work is somewhere close to the M1 near Sheffield.  If it's got good stock, people would travel to get there, and you would have millions of people in Sheffield, Rotherham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby etc that would all be in easy travelling distance.  I don't know that area all that well, and if there is any existing competition for that market.

Somewhere near the M4/M5 junction may also be feasible.  You would have Bristol on the doorstep, and Gloucester, Bath, Swindon would all be in easy reach.  There is not a lot in the South West so you might get people travelling from further afield as well.  I grew up in East Devon and we went to Bristol quite regularly.  It's not as bad now (you have Mansons and Hartnolls), but I can't recall a Gibson or Fender dealer within an hour's drive as a kid.   You would be competing with World Guitars in this part of the world though.

Panama_Jack666

crunchman said:

capo4th said:

@Panama_Jack666 - Harrogate might be well off compare with most of the North but it's population isn't that big (75,000) and it's surrounded by nice countryside, not other built up areas.  There are not enough people within an hour or so drive to make it viable for a really high end shop.

Very true in regards to a small population. However, York and Leeds are very close (30 mins on a train either way, I can make it from Leeds in 20 minutes post gig - my colleagues do it in about 30 mins from the right side of Leeds in rush hour). If the shop built a reputation like CODA or Peach I think it would be the ideal place to pull people in. There's also Knaresborough next door which has a bit of wealth. And it's not too far from the A1/M1.

It'd be worth doing research to see what the population is like around the bigger shops and how much business they actually do online/vs in store sales. I've never been to Stevenage but I do buy from CODA!

crunchman

I forgot the transport links are better than they used to be.  I spent a year in Leeds when it used to be the end of the M1.

There is place for good physical shops.  Personally I wouldn't buy a guitar online again.  I did it once but ended up not liking it and selling it on.  I wouldn't want to add up what I've spent in shops in person.

BenSirAmos

You can start your research here: http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/

But I generally advise people against opening a new shop. Taking over an existing shop means you can research the customers, turnover, etc but you can't do that if you are opening a new and specialist shop. Shops are really quite dependent on passing trade.

The best place to do research would be Denmark Street. You can stand outside, count the number of people going into shops, count the number of people coming out with guitar shaped packages, interview people on the street, etc. Given its location and reputation, Denmark Street is probably the best place for picking up customers from passing trade. Lots of tourists spending money too. 

Of course, it might not be a popular place amongst experts on theFB, but that is because we all want the best deals so we might not be the best customers of an up-market guitar shop. But for other kinds of buyers, it is probably the best know location for guitar shops - so why would you look anywhere else?

Drew_TNBD

BenSirAmos said:

You can start your research here: http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/

But I generally advise people against opening a new shop. Taking over an existing shop means you can research the customers, turnover, etc but you can't do that if you are opening a new and specialist shop. Shops are really quite dependent on passing trade.

The best place to do research would be Denmark Street. You can stand outside, count the number of people going into shops, count the number of people coming out with guitar shaped packages, interview people on the street, etc. Given its location and reputation, Denmark Street is probably the best place for picking up customers from passing trade. Lots of tourists spending money too. 

Of course, it might not be a popular place amongst experts on theFB, but that is because we all want the best deals so we might not be the best customers of an up-market guitar shop. But for other kinds of buyers, it is probably the best know location for guitar shops - so why would you look anywhere else?

Dude... Denmark Street is about to be demolished and turned into a Primark and a TK Maxx.

ToneControl

ok, a factory unit next to the Trafford centre

or... an old pub bought cheap, on a motorway junction

btw I'd only set one up if I won the lottery

Rocker

Leeds.  Especially if you know who is not in business any more.......

sinbaadi

ToneControl said:

ok, a factory unit next to the Trafford centre

or... an old pub bought cheap, on a motorway junction

btw I'd only set one up if I won the lottery

How about just opposite one of the Camelot Prize Payout Centres as your choice of location?

xSkarloey

I'd say Bicester or Banbury.

Birmingham's just too good in terms of links not to consider.

Failing that if you want somewhere geographically central you'd say Meriden or Haltwistle (one for the map readers there folks...)

holnrew

I've been through Haltwhistle on the train to Carlisle a couple of times. Not very convenient for most people I'd think.