Fifty Dealer / Fifty State
Colorado Rockley Music Center Lakewood Liane Rockley, Owner
2012 vs. 2011 It seems that the normal slow times of retail have completely changed. Summer is a good example of that. We managed the slow time in July and August without any problems this year for the first time in a decade! October, however, has been a real drag. I am curiously apprehensive to see what the holiday season brings this year. Last year, holiday sales were late and short. With some of the big boxes advertising that they will match online prices and/or freight deals, the climate is right for an all-out battle for holiday sales. Us small independents will have to be super-creative to gain any holiday dollars. Highlights/Lowlights First, we completely turned our music lesson program upside down. In September we opened Rockley Music Education Center. We have tripled the number of students we are teaching in just over a month and a half. It has been so wonderful to have this kind of response! We’re also revamping our drum department. We hired our drum teacher as a consultant and we’ve gone through the whole inventory, making sure we can get a decent margin. Since I am a flutist, it has been a real education for me. I can now speak drum. New steps toward developing an e-commerce presence Sometimes commerce sites can take on a utilitarian feeling. They can also all look the same after a while! We tried to make our site radiate the family-friendly feeling that our store does. We try to drive sales to our website by email blasts that we do in the community and by just advertising our web address as much as possible. Product of the year Music lessons have been our breakout winning product this year. For those interested, I will be sharing how we did this in the Idea Center on Saturday, Jan. 26th at 4:00 pm at the Winter NAMM Show. DECEMBER 2012
My session will be called “Why You Should Reinvent Your Lesson Program.”
Connecticut Dynamic Percussion Manchester Richard “Gus” Guastamachio, Owner
2012 vs. 2011 Our figures to date and projections for the rest of the year are way above what we expected from the paperwork we acquired. Highlights/Lowlights Moving to a facility more than three times the old location! New steps toward developing an e-commerce presence Yes! We are finishing up our beta tests of building our e-commerce site, and expanding our other online sales outlets, in addition to beefing up our total online presence. Product of the year Taye “Go-kits”
Delaware Accent Music Wilmington Steve Harkey, Owner
2012 vs. 2011 As the margin on commodity merchandise continues to deteriorate, they actually have less of an impact on net profit. Business lost at 15 percent profit can be replaced with business at higher profit margins such as rentals, school sales, lessons, repairs, etc. These services are what continue to set apart the independent dealer in the community offering a more pronounced posture in the market and providing for a broader and more stable source of revenue. We also grew geographically by opening two new stores in smaller market areas and these will continue to grow with the communities they are a part of. Highlights/Lowlights We held a huge benefit concert for the Homeless and Addicted at The Queen Theatre in Wilmington. We had 11 bands perform, of which seven were MMR 31