At what point do you NOT support the small local shop?

[ruby50]

Texan wrote:

"Will the human race abandon the way we've done retail for a few centuries?"

I just read that Amazon is opening some bookstores, so pick-it-up-and-look-at-it retailing may not be dead after all.

My rural town of 4,000 has a music shop with $40 ukes and $99 Chinese guitars. Problem is, he doesn't have much that is of above-average quality, and he doesn't do well on ordering.

[89bruin]

There are certainly a lot of variables but I think poor customer service & bad business practice have as much impact as the internet. In my area the mom & pop shops have really gone downhill. A couple are gone all together but the couple that remain aren’t worth visiting due to poor inventory, high prices and bad service. One in particular used to be a haven for high-end, even boutique, instruments along with great professional service. Today it’s full of low-end budget guitars and disinterested staff.

Further, my one recent dealing with another small shop has convinced me that far too many of these businesses today put their interests ahead of the customer’s ... if something goes wrong they simply won’t step up. Maybe that’s driven by razor-thin margins but I’d rather deal with a large company via the internet that has a reputation for being customer-focused.

[drive-south]

My local Mom & Pop has changed hands twice in the last year. I have no idea who owns it now. They no longer sell Martin. The original owner was a family that ran the store for a century. They carried Martin, Taylor, and Guild.
I visit the store occasionally but rarely buy anything from them any more and my conscience is clear.

I am now a regular customer at a store 25 miles from my house. I visit them weekly and give them a lot of business. The store is called City Music in Leominster, MA. The owner is very community oriented and runs excellent music programs for young students. He maintains an excellent inventory but no high end acoustics. Maybe thats a good thing.

[lodi_55]

I will always support our local shops. I have Gryphon Strings and Sylvans both within 45 minutes of my house. Incredible selection, friendly staff and fair prices. I will keep supporting until those elements all go away.

Also, I guess everyone here is okay with buying a fairly expensive Guitar without playing it first? Not me

[silvereagle48]

Originally Posted by 89bruin

There are certainly a lot of variables but I think poor customer service & bad business practice have as much impact as the internet. In my area the mom & pop shops have really gone downhill. A couple are gone all together but the couple that remain aren’t worth visiting due to poor inventory, high prices and bad service. One in particular used to be a haven for high-end, even boutique, instruments along with great professional service. Today it’s full of low-end budget guitars and disinterested staff.

Further, my one recent dealing with another small shop has convinced me that far too many of these businesses today put their interests ahead of the customer’s ... if something goes wrong they simply won’t step up. Maybe that’s driven by razor-thin margins but I’d rather deal with a large company via the internet that has a reputation for being customer-focused.

I, too, live in Tidewater and echo your post. Winter music in Gloucester was a very good local store but, unfortunately, is no longer.

[gmruegg]

I am very fortunate to be in an area with several good local stores. I have bought several guitars, mostly used, guitars from them. I recently got a good deal on a Martin 000-42 that had some cosmetic issues but nothing that impacted playability. For me, I would not make that purchase on line without the ability to play and personally evaluate the guitar. The owner also worked with the person that consigned the guitar to get me the price I wanted to pay. I know most of the staff and they greet me by name.

All that said I tend to buy strings and picks from some of our online sponsors. I find that they have better pricing and fresher inventory. Although new packaging has made a difference, I have gotten strings that were past their prime from local stores that don't have a high turn over.

I would really miss not having a local place to try out guitars and talk guitars so I do try to support them. They also offer lessons and occasional in-store concerts. All this helps keep them viable.

[davidd]

Price, price, price. Capitalism is the greatest force for good in human history (religion aside....) and supporting those that can give us the best product and service for the best price keeps that progress moving along. Living in the SF bay area I have an inexhaustible supply of equipment on CL. Consumables (strings etc.) and small accessories can be delivered tax free in a matter of days at usually substantially lower pricing than my local store so for me it's a no brainer. It isn't 1968 any longer for better or worse and it isn't going back. When I can get strings for $4 a set from Sweetwater w/ free shipping and no tax I'm not paying $8 at my local store and also have to contribute 9.5% state sales tax to the lunatics in Sacramento, period.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by whatitis

I occasionally buy something from a small, cluttered, strange little music store basically because I feel bad for the guy. Never anything big, but several guitar hangers, picks, and a capo. The Shubb capo I got last night cost me $36 and change. Obviously, driving ten more minutes to GC would have saved me nearly half that, but I didn’t balk at the price because I don’t think he makes much money there and I caught him just as he was closing for the day.

I guess I’m just curious where people stand on the line between supporting the little guy and throwing money away?

Hi whatitis

One day (over 15 years ago) I went into a local store to buy strings. He wanted $10 a set, and I told him I buy them 3 for $10 (same string) on the internet.

He said "That's cheaper than I can buy them for!"

I asked "Do you want my source?"

He said "No…" and I was done shopping at his local store. All of his merchandise was overprice, and if you tried to dicker with him, he'd offer you 5% off tops. (he's also been out of business the past 12 years)

I will not pay exorbitant prices for things I can drive 45 miles and get for about ½ - ⅔ the price…and get service there as well.

[Ludere]

Timing on this thread couldn't be better for me ...

I (very) recently got to the point where I was ready to buy my 314ce.
I had done the "play it first" bit, tried a number of guitars, decided on this one, went home and saved up for a bit and I was finally ready ...

1) Went down to the local GC (about an hour and a half away) ... on a Monday morning ... not many folks there, exactly what I was aiming for ... played the 314ce V class they had, liked it, carried it up front ... the guy at the register was busy stocking strings and such and I told him I wanted to buy the guitar. Over the PA he huffs, "we need a sales associate up front" ... 5 minutes, nobody shows. I say to the guy "wth?" he calls for backup again ... finally a kid shows up, looks at the tag, says he'll be right back. 10 minutes later I see the same kid talking to another customer over by the keyboards. Never looked my way, didn't act hurried - he was trying to make a sale! I walked back to the guitar room, hung the guitar up, and walked out.

2) Went to another local shop about another hour from there, they didn't have the V-Class, and when I asked about it, the sales guy insisted the 300 series didn't come with V bracing. I countered with, "I believe they do, I just played one" and when I suggested maybe he should check, he responded by telling me how knowledgeable he was of the Taylor line and he assured me that I must have just gotten my models confused.
... and I walked out.

Thursday I called Sweetwater. They sent me pictures of five different 314ce V-Class and let me pick the one I wanted. Told me I had 30 days to return it for any reason, and my sales guy told me he would see to it that they paid the return shipping to boot! He put that in an email.

My guitar comes Tuesday.

[muscmp]

as others have stated: when their inventory is minimal for everything from guitars to strings with sky high prices.

when shopping for my 00018ge, i got such a wide variety of prices that it was easy to see who would deal and who wouldn't. i played 6 total and could barely tell the difference between them other than price.

i don't even go to GC anymore as i'd rather shop their musician's friend or some other online store.

play music!

[justonwo]

When the local shop doesn’t supply things you value, don’t support them. My local shop provides guitars I can’t get anywhere else, a wonderful playing environment, and decent prices.

[packmule]

Depends how you define "local" - I live in San Francisco and the pickings are slim here nowadays in the city. There's Guitar Center, Panhandle Music (which seems to be closed most of the time and doesn't have a lot of selection) Haight Ashbury Music Center (which involves a trip to Haight St., which nowadays is like a strip mall for suburban kids wielding mum and dad's credit card, or suburban kids who are now homeless), and tiny Guitar Solo (which doesn't have much selection and seem geared more towards classical players or fingerpickers). None of the above would stock guitars that I'd be thinking of buying barring GC where I've tried out a few D-18's, but if I was seriously in the market for a D-18 I'd get it from one of the forum sponsors. I'll pick up small things at GC just because it's walking distance from my apartment.

We certainly do have great shops further afield in the greater Bay Area (Gryphon/Sylvan/Schoenberg Guitars/Tall Toad), but again, depends how you define "local" - if a shop is far enough away that visiting it is akin to a field trip then I don't define it as local, but I'm sure other folk would. One of those shops (which won't be named) treated me so rudely when I was there with several thousand dollars cash intending to buy a guitar that I've never returned - I wouldn't spend a dime there despite the knowledge that their stock of instruments is great. FYI the guy in the shop was rude to me the instant he saw me, so I know it was based on how I look, rather than anything I'd done or any interaction we'd had. Not cool.

So back to what would make me not support the small local shop - from the standpoint of in San Francisco city limits it's purely based on the shops not stocking what I'm looking for. For the further afield "local" shops, the time to get there is a consideration and how I'm treated. Treat me like crap and I'll buy online, no ifs, no buts.

[steve223]

I live in a very small town and we have 1 music store. I have known the guy that owns it for at least 30 years. He sells instruments to the Band kids at pretty good prices and fix his best to support them so I buy what I can from him when he has what I want. I bought my last Guitar from him and it cost me about a hundred bucks more than what I could have bought it for online but it was worth it to me.

[jaymarsch]

I love having a local guitar shop in town. So, I try to support them in a variety of ways. I sell instruments on consignment there, and will buy new or used instruments if they have what I am looking for. I’ll check there for accessories and I don’t mind paying a little extra.

They support the community and pay taxes here and I like to shop local.

Best,
Jayne

[Glennwillow]

My closest music store is a 75-minute drive from my house. However, I have been doing business with them for 40 years and have purchased a lot of music equipment from them over the years. Whenever I think of buying something, I consider buying it from them.

I buy from others when they simply don't have what I want. But often they do; they run a very good store.

- Glenn