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Dawsons... Hopefully others won't follow


Ant1972

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I am slowly realising how fortunate I am living in Solihull and working in the centre of Birmingham.

Bass Direct and Presto music in Leamington; PMT, Guitar Guitar, Fair Deal Music, Hobgoblin, The Little Guitar Shop all visitable in a lunch hour from the office. One in Coventry that I can never remember the name of, Express Music down the road for occasional odds and sods. 

I hope they all survive.

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3 hours ago, Richard R said:

I am slowly realising how fortunate I am living in Solihull and working in the centre of Birmingham.

Bass Direct and Presto music in Leamington; PMT, Guitar Guitar, Fair Deal Music, Hobgoblin, The Little Guitar Shop all visitable in a lunch hour from the office. One in Coventry that I can never remember the name of, Express Music down the road for occasional odds and sods. 

I hope they all survive.

All in one hour!

🙂

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I can never understand why venture capitalists get involved with musical instrument retail. It’s never been a big money-spinner, it’s certainly not the up and coming thing (quite the reverse) and profits for even the biggest retailers were always slim pickings. I guess perhaps they spotted an asset stripping opportunity, but then most if not all shop space is rented.

I agree there’s nothing quite like visiting a shop in person, but TBH apart from a sunburst precision bought from Bass Direct, every bass I’ve purchased since getting back into playing has been used, either from here or eBay/Reverb. The bang for bug just doesn’t compare.

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1 hour ago, FDC484950 said:

I can never understand why venture capitalists get involved with musical instrument retail. It’s never been a big money-spinner, it’s certainly not the up and coming thing (quite the reverse) and profits for even the biggest retailers were always slim pickings. I guess perhaps they spotted an asset stripping opportunity, but then most if not all shop space is rented.

I agree there’s nothing quite like visiting a shop in person, but TBH apart from a sunburst precision bought from Bass Direct, every bass I’ve purchased since getting back into playing has been used, either from here or eBay/Reverb. The bang for bug just doesn’t compare.

The company who took over Dawsons last year sold the properties the company owned...and set about flogging gear at discounted prices they’d bought at a lower valuation price upon acquisition.

All very shady and slick. 

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According to a local paper article that popped up on my phone, it's been bought by someone whose been in the music business 20 years and a musician for 30. Maybe over-optimistic but the suggestion is jobs saved and business aims to continue/grow.

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On 09/05/2020 at 10:58, Woodinblack said:

Well, you were probably not in the majority, most people have not been going to their local music shop for a long time. Unless you were lucky to live somewhere big, the chances of having anything in a local shop that was more interesting than a sunburst fender, the music shop hasnt been that interesting. 

This is too true.  I'm fortunate that I have easy access to London, so Denmark Street is viable for purchase of anything that's not bulky.  There's a music store quite close which has a massive range of FX pedals but a, frankly, disappointing range of instruments and amps.  It survives through on line sales of the pedals.  The only other local shop shut down last year and to be honest it wasn't really worth visiting.

Other than that I can jump in the car and get to Wembley Guitar Centre or Andertons.  Its only stores of this size that really have a decent range of instruments.  I have always resisted online purchase of instruments as I really want to try the actual instrument before I pay for it.

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My local shop (Burton upon Trent) has a reasonable selection.

I'm well placed to visit Brum/Black Country, Derby, Nottingham.

Also literally just a mile from Normans for cheap accessories which they sell over the counter.

Some smaller shops in Lichfield, Swadlincote.

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