No Rick Dealer For Dallas/Fort Worth

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:07 am

Yikes! With the recent break-up between Guitar Center and Rickenbacker, I was curious to see who the remaining dealers are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Imagine my surprise when I went to the Rickenbacker website and found that the closest one is in Austin. About ten years ago we had (5) different dealers (some with multiple locations) in the area. Luckily, I'm not currently in the market for a new model, but it is distressing to see the current situation. Might I make a suggestion? I think Mr. Hall should open a Rickenbacker outlet store in Dallas, to sell current models, prototypes, one-offs, specials, and rare NOS guitars. A massive inventory should be maintained and of course everything would be sold at deep discount. I think that's the best way to solve the situation.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:28 am

Sure, Randy, right in your backyard...

But, seriously, this is about as likely as Walmart carrying Ricks.

This would be great for you, but how could it possibly benefit Rick?

squirebass · Post by **squirebass** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 7:35 am

I know of nobody that has a massive inventory of Ricks(other than John Williams and Mike Parks), but Mr. Hall, if you decide to take up Randy's most excellent suggestion, I'll be glad to manage the store for you...

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:03 am

Ever heard of Ed Roman, Gene?

Well, John, senior management is in place. When will you be location-scouting?

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:04 am

I can see the Freeway signs:

"Rickenbacker Outlet Store next exit!"

Factory prototypes at cost!

Bargains on discontinued colors!

Dead Man's Rips!

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:26 am

Shoot, we'll just get a ranch out on Preston Road, offer a combination outlet store, steak house, and equestrian center. Guess we'd need a real estate office to make it complete.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:30 am

Fireglo Steak House...

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:45 am

Paul, you've got to understand my history on this issue. A little over twelve years ago, I was thinking about the feasibility of starting a musical venture to deal in Beatlesque gear (like so many people are currently). Obviously being a RIC dealer was essential to the business plan, so I made a few inquiries. I was told in no uncertain terms that Dallas/Fort Worth already had too many RIC dealers and that they wouldn't consider adding anymore. Over the years I've watched as the dealers have gone away. Some of them were certainly marginal and didn't do much to sell or promote RIC products. So finally we've reached the end and they're now all gone. I can't say anyone will miss any of them!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:03 am

Gotcha, buddy, and pardon us for having a little fun on this one.

Dealership is one thing, but an outlet store is another.

I do think it was a great tongue-in-cheek suggestion.

It was tongue-in-cheek, wasn't it, Randy?

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:15 am

I'm pleased to see that Mr. Hall is excited about my idea, and the steak house is a nice touch. Sounds like he has a passing familiarity with the area too. Perhaps he's been meeting with prospective dealers. I'm sorry to say that there aren't many good places to buy a guitar around here. My most recent purchases have all been done over the internet. I wonder if Rickenbacker has ever considered going direct and cutting out the dealers? Honestly, I've found few that add any value to the product. They rarely stock much of anything and provide little service of any kind. I don't think that has anything to do with RIC. I get the same feeling about the other brands they have in their stores.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:32 am

Paul, it was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, that is unless of course Mr. Hall thinks it sounds reasonable, then I'm ready to shop at the steak house. I'm very serious when I say that dealers for many types of products are not adding any value. I think that explains the success of internet businesses. It's a shame that small businesses with a personal connection to their customers find it increasingly difficult to survive in today's marketplace, but that's already happened. Now what we're left with are large corporate music stores that are totally impersonal. This makes it attractive to buy from the lowest cost provider without ever interacting with a human being at any point in the process. Often that beats talking to the uninterested and uneducated music store employees that the big stores hire. At Guitar Center I once tried to buy tubes for a Vox AC30. The guy looked at me like I was from outer space and said, "What's a fox?"

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:01 am

Randy, this is one of my own favorite rants. The entire country is moving in the direction of WalMart, with personal service to prospective purchasers rapidly becoming obsolete.

Let me illustrate how bad it's getting, by an example from an old and wonderful business that I was involved in for decades:

Every February in New York, the toy manufacturers hold the huge American International Toy Fair. Manufacturers show all their latest wares to buyers, and the buyers for all the major toy chains as well as the Mon-and-Pop outfits view what's on offer and place their orders for the following calendar year, which commences roughly with the Christmas rush.

This used to be a giant occasion every year, and as a toy designer, I spent a lot of time in NYC in Februarys past.

WalMart came onto the scene really strongly a decade ago. Because their sales volume was big and getting huge, manufacturers thought they would get a jump on things and have a "pre-Toy Fair" showing for WalMart, K-Mart, Target and Toys-R-Us. They would use the feedback from this to plan their product lines, since these retailers at that time represented about 65% of the business.

Nowadays, Toy Fair is a shadow of itself. Walmart, all by itself, decides product lines from all the manufacturers whom it deigns to retail for. WalMart dictates to giants such as Mattel and Hasbro the types and prices of the toys that they will sell, and Mattel and Hasbro have little choice in the matter. Furthermore, if a product sells really well in WalMart stores, WalMart will often go to the Orient and have an identical product made for the following season under their own label, thereby passing up the manufacturer's markup. It has ruined the toy biz, and other business segments are experiencing similar restrictions.

This has shut down creativity in toys, for the most part. And more and more, the taste and mentality of an entire country is being dictated by a huge retailer whose corporate culture is a mix of Wall Street shark and Bentonville, Arkansas conservatism and cultural regression.

This has its fallout in all retail trade. Service is going down the tubes. The neighborhood music store, struggling for years against the tide, is now trying to deal with GC and their ilk, selling cookie cutter $98.00 guitars and providing minimal after-sales service.

Yes, they carry Gretsch and Fender and...

And you could get lucky and get a salesperson who really knows his stuff, and is not just parroting somebody else's opinions.

But on a Rick? Not likely, as Rickenbacker's withdrawal underscores.

squirebass · Post by **squirebass** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:07 am

Paul, I have heard of Ed Roman, but I wonder if he really has the inventory he claims. Besides, he butchers at least some of those he gets!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:21 am

Gene, he DOES have an amazing inventory of Ricks. There were some pictures posted here just last week in a thread with a title having something to do with Vegas.

At least 65 guitars on display, as I recall. And, his "modifications" are a matter of personal bad taste.

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 1:08 pm

With regard to Guitar Center and the Walmart mentality, this article is fairly interesting. Target price for electric and acoustic guitars $399? Drums $499? Four hundred Music & Arts stores in 5 years?

I'll believe it when I see it.

They also just spent $10.5 million on a used jet (from a Mexican operator!) which I suppose will be used to go visit all these stores.