Is it typical for a music store to be dead? As in hardly anyone there playing or buying anything and the people that work there just trying to stay awake? I went to two music stores today and I didn’t stay long because it was just bad vibes.
I’m running out of options locally…
Streaming + online sales + covid etc , whatcha expect
Take advantage of them being quiet, I say.
Cheers,
Keith
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That is sad, a music store without any music being played is wrong to my mind. The staff, if nothing else could use the quiet time to jam.
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Not to mention the massive cost of living increases leaving people without the cash to spend on new musical hardware.
Honestly, if I worked in a music store I’d be doing this all day. Definitely a missed opportunity.
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I’d taken thechance to take my time.
20y ago I read about people being looked down upon, scared away, put under pressure to stop jamming and buying/leaving.
But I get it
in a short timespan, KeyMusic in Belgium closed my local store in Mechelen and announced closure of the store in Hasselt, which was only 2 years there after taking it over from an wonderful (and independent) guy. The 2 years before the Mechelen store was closed, the place felt rather dead as well.
Service online has become trustworthy, reliable and the offer is broad. You get enough chances to send back what you don’t like so the risk has decreased.
I think I’m going to make sure I exchange my open gift vouchers soon because they lost their status as my favourite chain to Thomann.
I think coming 5 years will be about closing, merging or changing directions for the chains that are sub-top.
It’s the middle of summer, so a big part of the target audience may be away on vacation or travelling. Have you encountered this problem at the same stores before?
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Ok. Yes I have encountered this problem before with one of the same stores. I’m concerned that these stores may have to close because so many retail stores here have because of Covid.
Interestingly, amongst all this doom and gloom around bricks-and-mortar shops closing down, here in SG they have just announced a $62 million SGD redevelopment of the Clarke Quay area, including a big retail area which includes “a new music lifestyle experience by Swee Lee”.
Swee Lee are a large local musical instrument retail store.
"Swee Lee chief executive Kuok Meng Ru said its new outlet, spanning about 6,000 sq ft, will open in mid-2023.
“Given its central location, international recognition and historical significance, we saw the repositioning of CQ @ Clarke Quay as an exciting opportunity to expand Swee Lee’s footprint at home in Singapore,” he said.
He added that the new showroom will have a wide range of notable brands, and also have a click-and-collect counter that integrates online and offline shopping. Besides musical instruments, the store will have music lifestyle products and Swee Lee Social Club, a cafe and social event space."
I guess it might turn out to be a mistake, but they seem to know what they are doing.
Cheers,
Keith
Thank you everybody for your experience on this. I have at least three more places I know of that I can visit.
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