I just got out of a 20 year relationship with Guitar Center. AMA
- Thread starter Pilin
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ponchonlefty
Royal Corn
welcome was it a bad break up?
theothersemioldfart
Unicorn Ninja
- Reaction score
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I got an offer of $70 for a PF-500. Not "sorry man, i got inventory that's not moving", or "we're not interested".I was so insulted I actually put them in the pihole filter. I'm done. Not a pack of strings or pick or nothing. I was actually planning to buy a Katana when i sold the Ampeg, rather than go through sweetwater because i wanted to play it. I'm done forever.
Aren't they all to some extent? In this case it wasn't a bad breakup. Certainly wasn't mutual. I Seinfeld' out.
Yeah, that sounds like you dealt with somebody who doesn't know what to do or how to do it.
ponchonlefty
Royal Corn
the music store i used to go to is gone, has been for a long while.
2008-2009 was not kind to MI retail. Half of the indies folded when everyone's discretionary spending $ and home equity loans bottomed out. The rest trickled down the drain over the following 10 years. Covid put the nail in the coffin [case] for the rest.
theothersemioldfart
Unicorn Ninja
- Reaction score
- 4,066
- Points
- 93
Yeah. Miss the Music Connection in Raleigh.
It was a hardware store not a music store but perhaps the most poignant experience on this was walking into a Home Depot asking for help. You need to talk to Rick. And out walks the guy who ran the local independent hardware store for decades and shut down when his shopping center was abandoned. Should be entering retirement years and he's an hourly employee at a big box store. I think I actually shed a real tear.
ponchonlefty
Royal Corn
still got an ace hardware thats cool. music stores though are gone.
ponchonlefty
Royal Corn
yeah that was the plan i guess. im seeing some small businesses coming back a little. i miss the mom and pop cafes.
still got some left.
The only way for indies to carve out an existence, these days, is to either specialize in vintage, used, and moderate to high-end boutique new gear. With EXCEPTIONAL customer experience, to make you appreciate paying top (still negotiated) dollar and/or exporting vintage gear out of country. Shed a tear here. OR be 45 minutes, and pain-in-the-ass traffic, away from a major box store. And then, as a shop owner, only getting "convenience sales". The songbook, the quick pack of strings, or the mom & dad that have no idea about MI retail and buying little Susie or Jimmy their first [act] instrument.
ponchonlefty
Royal Corn
there's a store close by that sells olive oils. i cant see that lasting long. but its been there for about three years now. didn't know there was a demand for it.
Neither did I. Some stores are a keep the spouse busy businesses. Some are tax write-offs. A lot of restaurants are tax write-off for white-collar owners. They are designed to loose money while paying their owners clout. I see pop-up business' all the time. Right now, Japanese culture is huge. Walk into any functioning mall, still getting walk-in and browse business, and there will be 2-3 Japanese gift shops. Some are big. Not even bodega size. Full format.
ponchonlefty
Royal Corn
so tell us a little about yourself. im just a clown that likes making things.
theothersemioldfart
Unicorn Ninja
- Reaction score
- 4,066
- Points
- 93
More importantly... do you like cats or alcohol? At least one of those seems to be a requirement
soulman
Royal Corn
Every time I'm tempted to apply for a job in a local chain store like GC I go to an AA meeting. It helps. 
ficelles
Corn Star
My local store won't buy backline or even take it in trade unless it's stupid cheap. They had some of mine on commission sale for 6 months and didn't even get an offer so I took it back to kit out a rehearsal room.
theothersemioldfart
Unicorn Ninja
- Reaction score
- 4,066
- Points
- 93
If I ever win the lottery - there will be a business. I'll hire my kid and we'll work on whatever the stuff we want to work on project wise. There will be office cats too, which are not the same as the house cats. (Dogs are too high maintenance to be left behind, plus he has a morbid fear of dogs). Going to the office, shoot the breeze, grab a cinnamon roll, learn something, make something. If things are rough at the house we will have deadlines. But it' all facade for melting solder and making metal chips and sawdust, eating cinnamon rolls and shooting the breeze. We might make a few bucks once in a while but we won't care if we do.
armyadarkness
Royal Corn
I have a love hate relationship with GC, which has been all hate since 2015 or so.
My guitar player and one of my best friends, was a store manager there for 20 years, and so I spent half my life in a GC... and about $25k.
Now, I dont think they're good for anything more than strings and Ramones shirts.
armyadarkness
Royal Corn
I literally used to go there every day, and spend hours there. My kids were raised in that store... my bands were built in that store... my best friends came out of that store... and now I can go there and get a starter pack Kazoo set... or maybe some Moon Gels.
Dollar General is literally a much cooler place to hang, now.