Best Buy in USA is getting out of the musical instrument business

Hot on the heels of Yamaha Australia announcing that they are withdrawing availability of musical instruments from JB Hi Fi stores, I noted with interest the article (see below) in the USA Music Trades Magazine today in regards to Best Buy stores in the USA who have announced they are closing 120 of their "music stores within a store".

One of the most poigant comments in the article for me is the last sentence, that "The guys in the music store are the same ones selling dishwashers and televisions," and it makes me feel vindicated in holding onto and expressing my long held opinion that musical instruments ARE different and do not belong in "big box" supermarket stores alongside Hi Fi's and fridges or DVD's or TV's. And the kind of assistance and advice you need from the staff when buying a musical instrument is different too.

Broadly speaking, people who buy musical instruments fall into 2 categories: complete beginners, who usually have never set foot in a music store before and can therefore easily feel overwhelmed in such an unfamiliar environment... they just don't know where to start (this includes parents). And secondly, the enthusiastic amateur and professional, who may come in every few days or every weeks to get what they need and to see "What's new?" (this may be depsite the fact they have only been here yesterday!).

Personally I don't feel either of these groups can be assisted properly in a generic 'supermarket' environment. If people are going to get (good) service they need advice from musicians who are genuine in their interest in both the gear and in the person.

The opportunity to have someone with experienced to listen to you and chat to you about alternatives and let you actually try gear is paramount to the ongoing survival and profitablity of locally owned music retailers and in my opinion, in the long run, is what best for the customer. Yes, if you know what you're looking for, it can seem exciting to find a "great price" on a particular instrument in a Department Store or from an unknown source overseas, and I understand it is difficult for people to understand why prices often seem so much highter here than overseas but don't forget that part of the reason is that local Australian owned stores are employing local musicians and broadly speaking are stocking an extremely good range of gear that you can try "live" before you buy. How much is that worth I wonder? Enough it seems.

Recently a customer challenged me that he could buy a guitar the was looking at in my store for "$500 less in the USA". I joked that I could quite easily compete with their price but that they'd need to give me a few hours. "Why?" he asked. And I replied that "to compete on same basis, first I have to sack all my staff, pack up all my stock and put it in my garage and then set up my computer in my home office". Yes, I was being tongue in cheek, but the reality I was trying to convey is that if you want to chat to (real) people about (real) gear and try that gear first in a genuine environment... perhaps even while enjoying a cup of coffee, then that MUST be valued. The price cannot be the exactly the same if we going to employ local musicians (which in a very real way, subsidises the live music scene by giving them an income which allows them to develop their music and perform live despite the low returns (and as for musicians being paid what they are worth to perform, now that's a whole 'nother can of worms!).

Yes, I live the real world and I am not naive enough to think people are ignorant of overseas pricing and will therefore be happy to pay twice as here much as they can get stuff from overseas... thankfully, prices have never been so close and they are closer. And so it also seems to me from the Best Buy experience overseas, enough people (so far at least) "get" the fact that in the long term, it is worth supporting locally owned musical instruments specialists who are trying their very hardest to compete at a (now) international level so there will continue to be places to go when you need them.

Graham Hoskins

Music Trades Magazine April 2013

Best Buy Ends Music "Store Within A Store" Venture

SEVEN YEARS AFTER OPENING its first dedicated music store in Riverside, California, Best Buy is calling it quits. In late March, the top consumer electronics retailer quietly told key suppliers that it would be closing the approximately 120 "stores within a store" that stocked a wide array of musical instruments. Suppliers were given the option of buying back unsold inventory or authorizing Best Buy to resell it to other retailers. Best Buy will continue to stock portable keyboards, certain accessory products, and entry-level guitars in its main showroom, but as of June, there will probably be no trace remaining of the company's specialty music store chain.

The closing of the Best Buy Music stores marks the end of a closely watched experiment that started optimistically but never lived up to its promise. In late 2005, Best Buy framed out a 2,500-square-foot section of its Riverside store, stocked it with a selection of higher-priced guitars, amps, keyboards, and drumsets, and began quietly promoting the new music store with local newspaper supplements. At the time, Best Buy was one of the world's most successful retailers, and most thought it was destined to become a major force in the industry.

Industry suppliers initially welcomed Best Buy, viewing it as a potential counterweight to Guitar Center's market dominance. However, they quickly became frustrated as they struggled to integrate specialized music products into a high-volume, mass-market consumer environment. Numerous suppliers said that Best Buy's pledge to train a dedicated music store staff rang hollow: "The guys in the music store are the same ones selling dishwashers and televisions," was a common refrain.