I guess I have been under a metaphorical rock for the past five years as have been living in Oz, but since Covid, it seems a new norm to have to make appointments to go to a guitar shop? Is that right? Namely Vintage and Rare in Bath and Peach? I get the smaller boutique stores like V&R and G4U (who I appreciate have been that way for a lot longer), but didn't Peach spend a small fortune on their shop less than 10 years ago? And you can no longer just walk in? Seems ridiculous. Part of my growing up was walking shop to shop in each town and just browsing. Occasionally I bought. But this new business model just seems to be another nail in the coffin of the high street. Why bother having a shop at all? Just sell online and ship it out of a soulless warehouse and be done with it.
I am pleased to report that Australia still has a thriving face to face business model and small stores seem to thrive overall (noone is entirely immune to the box shifters, but they have held out well here....for now!).
Comments
(FWIW, I've never been to Peach, and only ever bought small items from them online)
Many is the time I have gone 'browsing' with no intention of buying ......and many is the time I have been smitten by something and bought it there and then or ended up going back for it a few days later after wrestling with myself .
Ultimately ,running a shop is how some people feed their kids .......if I was a shopkeeper I wouldn't want to lose a single opportunity to make a sale no matter how many time-wasters I had to swim through to get there.
Ultimately if you've got to be there to put the lights on why not open the door ?
I think highly skilled international thieves wouldn't travel long distance to steal a £1k guitar hanging in the shop
actually, putting security tags inside control cavities might be an idea too
I was chatting with an old friend at the guitar show this weekend about in store clinics - ie Line 6 Helix and the days when you might run such promotional events on a Sat when there was more foot flow - We both recall the days when Sat might well make up 50% of your weekly takings - Not today
Of course such foot flow will depend on the location - Be it a high street store and/or part of a larger town/city
I'm different for a few reasons - One man business - In the sticks - Semi retired and only focused on a small selection of products in the shop that many players need/want - So never been a 'browsing' type of shop anyway - In fact many customers who traveled a fair distance would ring up before traveling anyway to check item X was actually in stock and don'ts ell it whilst travelling over - So in a roundabout way they were making an appointment anyway by telling me they are on the way
But as I said my business model is totally different to that of Peach etc - In due course I on't have a shop - A small lock-up or even the 'bedroom' will be my format coupled with the shows as semi retirement beckons
But I changed to appointment only, probably over 5 years ago now - Mainly because I could go 2/3 days and not see anyone in the shop - But still sell mail order - In short the shop was having less of an importance/need, as far as the customer was concerned - As such it became less productive 'use of my time' stood behind the counter wondering if the door wold open
WWW has a lot to do with it - As does the demise of the high street for whatever reason is dictating that - And there are multi reasons driving this - In my town, Ashbourne, the high street is often empty mid day on Monday and/or Tuesday - So much so that many shops are now closed those days, especially 'out of season' and trying to 'force business into more productive opening hours/days - Ditto bars, cafes, pubs etc - I reckon only 2/3 pubs in town are now open 7 days a week in my town
What is disappointing is if I’ve gone somewhere for a day out with Mrs Keefy and take a swing round the music shops while she does her own thing - finding a notice at the door saying ‘appointment only’ is pretty annoying.
Maybe someone should've made an advance appointment to post the topic.
I like appointment guitar shopping. Yes, I often just walk in, but where possible I phone ahead and arrange a good time, and even when I don't I try to come in on a rainy Wednesday morning rather than a busy Friday night. This indicates to the retailer that I'm a serious buyer - not just some random tyre-kicker - and worth spending time with, worth taking trouble for (bringing extra guitars down from the storeroom if they seem likely to be of interest, finding a quiet place for me to sit down with them and leaving me there to explore my options properly, stuff like that). I have had great experiences with many different retailers, and a lot of that I put down to respecting their time and working with them so that we can both get a good result.
I would feel very on the spot under appointment conditions, not just pressured to buy but extremely self conscious about my playing while being watched, or at least in earshot.
Conversely, a while back as a spotty teenager I used to work in a busy music shop and it was at times pandemonium. Guitars are surprisingly easy to steal and in a very busy shop keeping an eye on everyone to make sure they weren't walking out the door with guitar under their raincoat was hard work.
Then there was the battle of trying to help somebody on the phone while Yngwie J Barnpot tries out the new Marshall 100 watt stack 20 feet away at full chat.
Having an appointment system would have been a godsend in those days.
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
i'm so used to guitar stores and, well a lot of places offering next day haha.
In any case, they’ve done the sums and the appointments model seems to work for them.