Emerald doesn't want to work with me anymore

Casual;

The road trips were, no doubt, a public service and it may be that the store sales enabled the service. Michael also sponsored two carbonfests and coordinated a number of mini concerts. I'm not sure if it was economics or exhaustion that caused him to retire. In any event he was an important player in getting carbon fiber instruments on the road.

[RP]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Casual;

The road trips were, no doubt, a public service and it may be that the store sales enabled the service. Michael also sponsored two carbonfests and coordinated a number of mini concerts. I'm not sure if it was economics or exhaustion that caused him to retire. In any event he was an important player in getting carbon fiber instruments on the road.

Very well put, Evan...

[jdrnd]

Originally Posted by ac

There's an old adage I once heard (in connection with tennis--though likely it was borrowed from elsewhere):

--You never change a winning game.
--You always change a losing game.


It doesn't appear to be necessary at all for Emerald at this point.

That's true.
But nothing is forever.

[mountainmaster]

Speaking of the future, I am afraid that internet sales will become the standard. This trend has been accelerated further by the pandemic.

I am seeing music stores disappearing all around me and the ones who still survive don't have much in stock. This makes "try before you buy" nearly impossible.

I don't like it anymore than the next musician but we better get used to it.

I'm sure Alistair has seen this coming too and has adapted his business model accordingly.

I think Blackbird is there, also. Blackbirds used to be at Elderly, Sweetwater, LA Guitars and a number of other outlets. I went looking and could not find a Blackbird instrument in a store. I'm not sure if Blackbird even maintains a stock of instruments since it appears that the guitars have to be ordered with a several month production schedule.

If on-line guitar sales become the dominant market then I would think that return policies would become standard (other than customizations).

[jdrnd]

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

Speaking of the future, I am afraid that internet sales will become the standard. This trend has been accelerated further by the pandemic.

I am seeing music stores disappearing all around me and the ones who still survive don't have much in stock. This makes "try before you buy" nearly impossible.

I don't like it anymore than the next musician but we better get used to it.

I'm sure Alistair has seen this coming too and has adapted his business model accordingly.

You may be right for the next few decades.


but nothing is forever.



for example
...in 2077 the underwater transatlantic supersonic bullet train train was completed. New York to Dublin in 3 hours for $400 ($68 in 2021 currency). Leave Penn station at 7 AM, arrive Dublin 10 AM. 1.5 hour fast train ride to the Emerald Store (11:30 AM). At store for 2 hours. Buy guitar and leave store at 1:30 PM. Train back to Dublin. Catch 4 PM train back to New York. Back at Penn station 7 PM with new guitar in hand.


or

Go to a local Ash's Wildwood Dream Guitar Center and try out Martin's Emerald Carbon Fiber X model guitars.

[Mbroady]

Completely different dynamic but, 40 years in the hospitality industry (Chef) and only once did I refuse to serve someone. Basically, they treated the front house staff as if they were sub human. Had no issues with paying a visit to the front-of-house saying no and asking them to leave. Even the other clientele were happy about it. They all cheered

We all had a celebratory toast when the shift was done, in honor of not taking poop from anyone.

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by casualmusic

Although participants reminisce gleefully about their fun freebie road shows ten years ago, it seems Michael McNichol forgot that he needed revenues and soon went out of business.

...

Fwiw, it’s Michael Stone of McNichol Guitars.

Jd;

I'm booking a seat as soon as possible.

[jdrnd]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Jd;

I'm booking a seat as soon as possible.

I wonder if they will serve breakfast.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by jdrnd

I wonder if they will serve breakfast.

Breakfast? Where we are going we don't need breakfast!

[jdrnd]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Breakfast? Where we are going we don't need breakfast!

I was thinking of a whole wheat bagel and a fruit cup.
You know Carbs an Fiber.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

Speaking of the future, I am afraid that internet sales will become the standard. This trend has been accelerated further by the pandemic.

I am seeing music stores disappearing all around me and the ones who still survive don't have much in stock. This makes "try before you buy" nearly impossible.

I don't like it anymore than the next musician but we better get used to it.

I'm sure Alistair has seen this coming too and has adapted his business model accordingly.

The Atlantic: People Liked Malls. Quotes a stat that 25-30% of online purchases are returned in an average year(!). Some would be returned even if bought locally, but I'll bet a substantial chunk of that is because it couldn't be seen/felt/measured/tried out first. It's not just coming, it's pretty much here.

[Captain Jim]

A business can't be everything to everyone. As Americans, I think we have gotten used to the "they should do this" mentality. Some here may be familiar with James A. Olson of Olson Guitars... seems that he has managed quite well without having a "Try Out Center" in various places around the country. If you live in Ireland and want an Olson, you may have to do an international trip (Is Minnesota nice this time of year?).

If you are the "I have to try it before I buy it" type, there are going to be a lot of things that are made in places other than your neighborhood that you may never get the opportunity to enjoy.

One of the great things about the internet is it puts the entire world at your fingertips. If not for the internet, it is very likely I would have never had the pleasure of owning several Emeralds. I have bought other guitars online that are available in various places because a seller 1,000 or more miles away from me had exactly what I was looking for. Doing it that first time was unnerving.

That said, you have to do what works for you... but it doesn't mean that any business should change their way of doing business because their location isn't convenient for you. In business, cost vs benefit has to be considered before making a change in how business is done.

If you hadn't heard about Emerald, here or through other social media, you would never know what you are missing. For full disclosure, I saw a couple Emeralds years before ordering that first one, but didn't take advantage of playing one... I was having Michael (from McNichols) do some work on the RainSong I had at the time and was focused on that, not looking at other guitars. It was a couple years later that I became intrigued by "those different looking guitars" and Emerald was only selling direct by that time. I remember thinking: "Only one way to find out..."

[jdrnd]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

A business can't be everything to everyone. As Americans, I think we have gotten used to the "they should do this" mentality. Some here may be familiar with James A. Olson of Olson Guitars... seems that he has managed quite well without having a "Try Out Center" in various places around the country. If you live in Ireland and want an Olson, you may have to do an international trip (Is Minnesota nice this time of year?).

If you are the "I have to try it before I buy it" type, there are going to be a lot of things that are made in places other than your neighborhood that you may never get the opportunity to enjoy.

One of the great things about the internet is it puts the entire world at your fingertips. If not for the internet, it is very likely I would have never had the pleasure of owning several Emeralds. I have bought other guitars online that are available in various places because a seller 1,000 or more miles away from me had exactly what I was looking for. Doing it that first time was unnerving.

That said, you have to do what works for you... but it doesn't mean that any business should change their way of doing business because their location isn't convenient for you. In business, cost vs benefit has to be considered before making a change in how business is done.

If you hadn't heard about Emerald, here or through other social media, you would never know what you are missing. For full disclosure, I saw a couple Emeralds years before ordering that first one, but didn't take advantage of playing one... I was having Michael (from McNichols) do some work on the RainSong I had at the time and was focused on that, not looking at other guitars. It was a couple years later that I became intrigued by "those different looking guitars" and Emerald was only selling direct by that time. I remember thinking: "Only one way to find out..."

I agree with everything said in this post.


Your post relates to the business side of the argument.



Ideally as a guitar player I would like to try out the instrument that I am going to buy. I bet you would too. That is a different discussion than Emeralds business model.


As it pertains to KarenB's thread, if she had had a chance to try out specific guitars before she bought one of them she might have found an instrument she liked and would not have had to ship it back.

I think they should give her another chance.