tatakata

Seems like there are only a couple of big players left in the trumpet sales business

A couple that come to mind

Dillons

Rayburns

Washington Music

But what about the little guy. Where will will be in the next couple of years. Who will we be buying trumpets from.

I found this interesting discussion and thought I would post it here

The New Brass Forum • View topic - Boutique vs. the Manufacturer's Retail Stores

B15M

This is happening because price is king.
The bigger the shop the lower the price (Usually)

The same reason we go to China so much

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rowuk

What about the small shops that do repairs? What about the Harrelsons, Melks or Felixes?
True, the bulk is going over the internet or the big shops that can afford to keep horns in stock.
Actually, I don't think the price is the whole story. I think that society in general places less value on personal relationships compared too years ago. Our schedules (and those from our children) are so full that we do not have the local ties that we used to.
You could trust the guy at the mom and pop music store. They gave you a deal and were there for the after sales service.
Loyalty is also not big on the list of things needed for shareholder value so the distribution gives the big purchasers a bigger break and the internet has made buying an instrument 5000 miles away easier than driving 50 miles to a small store with limited choice!

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cornetguy

Exactly, the Wal-Martiziation of America continues. Cheap Chineese plastic crap sold for the lowest possible price, treat your employees like crap and you will still do business because price is the most important thing. (all right I admit i go to the box stores but try to go to Target as much as possible when I have to)

The music stores don't help themselves when they don't carry instruments, and accessories that we need or want. At least around here they are School music, and guitar and drum oriented to greater or lesser degrees. (not that that is a bad thing but...) They seem to have very few "pro-line" horns in stock at any one time. and seem to have abdicated us to the brasswind, giardinelli, Robert King etc...

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RG111

For the past 30 years I have bought all of my instruments from Washington Music in Wheaton, MD. While price was a factor, the most important part was that had a huge selection of horns to try out. I have no idea how many Bach C trumpets I tried before settling on my present jewel, but it was worth it! Yes, the price was better than many small stores, but I would have paid much more for this horn and still been happy no matter where I bought it.
Roy Griffin

mike ansberry

Yea, the cheap foreign horns are a problem American manufacturers, but I think internet warehouse sales are harder on the small local stores. They can't compete with them. A lot of these big warehouses have no storefront, so they don't have to employ people for that, and they get bigger discounts on their wholesale purchases.

Having said that, I think that the local music stores will be in business as long as there are school band programs to utilize their horn rental programs. That is where they make their money.

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"Music is a fire in your belly that has to come out of your mouth, so you'd better put a horn in the way before someone gets hurt" (paraphrase of Bleeding Gums Murphy)

Eclipse MR in scratch gold
Olds Super/Ultrasonic
Conn 40B
Leblanc Paris large bore with Bach mouthpipe
Bach 37
Olds L-12 Flugel
Benge Picc
Buescher Cornet made in 1914
American Standard (King?) beginner trumpet (crap)

Willing to provide a good home for a stray Conn 48B or Olds Recording

gglassmeyer

I think the death can be caused by the focus of small music shops on selling horns to parents for their kids in school. If I go into our local shop there are tons of cheap student model horns or step ups, but not many pro horns.
To compound that the vast majority of their horns are from the UMI stable so you see mostly Kings, Benge and Conn.
They'll generally have a Bobby Shew Yamaha, and a Bach laying around for good measure but not much else.
I look at my experience of getting my 1st pro horn in 1983 and my second pro horn in 2006. Many people who buy pro horns use them for a long time so they just don't have the large number of sales in a year. Most advanced students in high school show up and ask for a Bach 180/37 based on their teacher's recommendation and they pick it up and are happy with it. They can order in just about anything, but they just don't keep a large selection of pro horns due to the cost.
They did recently start selling Cannonball horns which are quite nice.
The wierd thing is that I live in a good sized city (Cincinnati, OH) so I can't imagine how little selection there is in smaller towns.

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Annie

I think the 'death of the small music shop' depends on the area - I can think of at least three in the county I live in!

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stchasking

I took my Bach into my favorite, local shop last night. These are the people I should have gone to in the first place. The repair man was there working on a baritone and the students in the back were taking lessons. The parking lot was full. I asked him for an overhaul and to move the pinky ring back. He said he could do it that night. I said that was not necessary so we made sure he knew where to move it and checked the horn out for cleaning. I asked him if he could trim my mouth pieces to fit the reciever. "Sure," he said. "Let's do it now." So we fit two mouth pieces and he noted that the were "cureled under" from the poor fit. It should play better, now.
Then I went to the front and played new Bachs, Zeno's and a Jupiter. The younger lady that works there asked me if I was "J----- K----" and I said yes. The older lady that worked there was the same person that sold me my first Bach, Yam Pic, Blessing C, Blessing D, when she worked at another store 20 years ago. The service was excellent and friendly. School Music is alive and well in these parts.

It is:
Band Instrument Service Company, St. Charles, Missouri
"The largest Bach Dealer in the Midwest."

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tatakata

The forum I linked to makes it sounds like the plan the big makers have is to start selling direct soon and cut out the middle man. aka the dealer.