But, this summer my cousin was in the market for an amp. As it was a Sunday, we made a trip up to our local GC. I'm out of the "I gotta get it/have it" phase of my life, and I don't often go into gear lust, as I have a pretty strict budget for myself. Which means I don't tour the local music stores on the weekends like I used to.
So we walk in, and I tried to remember the last time I was in this particular store, it has to be at least a few years. I was blown away at how sparse it was. They did away with the huge counter area, and replaced it with iso booths for lessons. So the accessories/check out counter was now a smaller squared off island like station near the front showroom area. The walls were still packed with guitars, with a pretty decent variety. Pricing in retail these days is pretty standard, so any deals or specials come from coupons or price matching, so no big "oh my god, how expensive/or cheap this is" on any items.
What shocked me is the non music instrument related stuff they were selling. They had a T shirt bin, with semi-music related themes, socks & gifts, as well as Records. That was odd. It was like a newbury comics in a sense. I'm wondering if they'll sell Jimi Hendrix Funco pop stuff soon.
The middle of the floor space was a lot more thinned out; where there used to be double tiers of Combo amps, and rows of half stacks were now small islands with whatever could be placed into any spot, no rhyme or reason. The stock on the floor was in good shape, and reasonably priced, but not a lot of variety. I actually saw a few amps that interested myself. Overall the feel of the store was like how a typical Daddy's Junky music store was in their later years. It was kind of shocking and sad, especially knowing how Daddy's ended up.
My cousin ended up with a BOSS Katana 50, for $214, Along with some strings and picks, and all the taxes, which was a pretty great deal. I did a review of the Katana 100 awhile back, and if I had slightly less impulse control, I would have tried to score one of these smaller versions for myself at that price (HERE is a link to my review). A bedroom sized combo, with every effect, that could still hang headroom wise, for that price?!? Yeah..
Anyway, the sales people were pretty good, no haggling or attitude. I looked on my phone for any GC coupon codes and they did have one. When I asked about using it, the sales guy said "I'll make it work". No "um..well that doesn't apply to this sale" situation. Very refreshing.
When GC came to Massachusetts in the mid 90's, smaller retailers feared that they'd go out of business, not being able to compete with GC. Some did. Some stores actually did better, figuring out how to capitalize on music stuff that GC didn't do, like repairs or lessons. In later years, the recession did kill a lot of smaller retailers, and those smaller stores that relied on used gear trades took a hit from Craigslist, Ebay & Reverb, so the Music retail landscape has really thinned out.
A few days earlier, I was in a local mom & pop music store to grab some strings, and even my wife commented that the store seemed like it was on it's way out. I have to admit, even their string selection was pretty week. I did get some strings, but not my usual brand, and the price was a bit high, but I needed them, and I was already there. It's not a bad store, but their selection of products reads like they just buy cheaper stuff, thinking it will sell, and then it just sits there. Back in the day I used to spend at least one day of a weekend crusing music stores, and this one rarely made the list, because of its lack of cool stuff, even back then.
Back when I was re-doing my strat, I went to this same mom & pop store, to see if they had some pickups in stock. They didn't, but said they could order them. I asked how long would it take to get them, and I was told "couple of weeks". I get they probably wait to order stuff to save on shipping, and they probably only order stuff one day a week, but it was a bummer, and needless to say, while I like supporting a local business, it's tough to put down a deposit on something when you're now on their schedule, and not your own. Now I can't fault a store on having some weird pickups I wanted, but the string selection shouldn't be lacking.
Running any retail business is tough, and if GC goes away, or even downsizes (which that store I visited could easily do) will that open things up to smaller mom and pop stores?
Friends of mine have often said I should open up a guitar store. It is tempting, but carving out a niche in this limited retail landscape is scary. Throw in the fact I'd have to deal with musicians like myself, I think I'll stick to my day job.
As an Interesting P.S. to this story. My cousin reached out to me, and asked me if I wanted to buy the Katana from him. He liked it, but didn't LOVE it, and lets just say I scored a deal! I'll have a post on my amp situation soon!
