|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
Real Local. "Do you want to go to the A&P to buy meat or to the little butcher shop down the block?" asks Dan Courtenay, pointing up the difference between shopping at his little, Manhattan guitar shop and "the Wal-Mart of the music world," a.k.a. Guitar Center Inc., as reported by Gwendolyn Bounds in The Wall Street Journal. It's the same question -- but from the other side of the street -- for Jack Sonni, vice president of marketing communications for Guitar Center, guitarcenter.com, a 152-store musical-instrument chain, with $1.51 billion in sales and 2.1 million square-feet of space ("nearly double the square footage it had five years ago"). With those kinds of numbers, one might think Jack isn't worried about the likes of Dan Courtenay, and his "27 feet long by 10 feet wide" shop, a.ka., Dan's Chelsea Guitars.
But Jack is concerned, if not worried. His conundrum is this: "how to win the goodwill of the community that small businesses enjoy while at the same time taking advantage of the national organization's deep pockets and economies of scale." It's also that "the dynamics of today's marketplace with low-price internet shopping" makes "it hard for Guitar Center to compete on price alone. What's more, there are other big musical-instrument chains out there, namely Sam Ash, samash.com, which opened its first store in 1924 and has some 45 megastores nationwide, as well as a website that promises the lowest prices in 50 states" (not to mention Daddy's Junky Music Stores, daddys.com). And, finally, Guitar Center "caters to a clientele comprised heavily of artists often suspicious of big business."
"We're trying to build loyalty within the community and the customers," says Jack, adding: "It takes the edge off the big, bad corporate world." His solution has been to launch "a series of contests ... that start out with musicians competing in their hometown stores for the privilege of eventually performing nationally before a panel of well-known judges." There are contests for guitarists (Guitarmageddon), drummers (Drum Off) and DJs (Spin Off). "Everyone has the dream of making a record," says Guitar Center's Kyle Rogers, explaining the appeal. Meanwhile, over at Dan's Chelsea Guitars, chelseaguitars.com, the appeal is something else again: "People are going to Chelsea Guitars for the conversation," says John Doyle, a customer. "You could be there an hour and chatting away and forget your strings."
Tim Manners, editor
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
©2005 reveries.com |
|
