Lack of Larrivee Dealers....

[fishstick]

Greetings....

I live in the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex area. An area encompassing 12 counties, nearly 10,000 square miles, and over 6 million people.

We have 1 Larrivee dealer!!!!! 

I don't get it, and unfortunately, because that 1 dealer isn't even close to me and their website shows only L models in stock, I've not visited. I'd love to play some different models.

Hmmm, so sad, perhaps there's some great business reason for the lack of stores in my area.

/rant

[Dotneck]

yeah..that's a shame. I don't think there is a dealer near me either. Smaller builders have a hard time getting heir product into all he markets..

[dcarey]

Here in RI, I used to have a Larrivee dealer about a mile down the road. I was ecstatic when I discovered this fact.
In ten years, I never once saw a Larrivee in the shop and I now notice that they're no longer a dealer. My nickel says
that Larrivee dropped them.

[HAMFIST]

Yeah -- maintaining a dealer network is a real challenge when you have much larger, dominant brands competing for those inventory slots. Brands with heavier advertising budgets and the multi-line clout to push other products out.

A larger brand like Taylor or even a brand with a strong distributor can carry heavy minimum order requirements, and can convince dealers they are doing the advertiser and artist relations stuff to move that inventory.

Not sure that Larrivee is very into playing that game.

[unclrob]

Unlike most brands Larrivee doesn't or at least didn't have one of those deals were you had to some many piece's of this modal or that modal or you had to order so many thousands of dollars each year to be a dealer like many brands.But for brick and morder store's its next to impossable to compete with mail order when you don't have to pay shipping or sale's tax.I know I have said this before over the years but unless your making 35% on landed cost {the guitar plus the shipping} which is only a 15% discount then there is no way to compete with someone who has a warehouse and no employee's.Store take money to operate and to stay above water you need to turn inventory at least 4 time's a year.With all the box stores who order in the 100 of thousands and get bigger discounts and 90 days to pay and no shipping its hard to compete and most comsumers purchase based on there wallet not a friendly,smart,not going to ripe you off,knowledgable and is going to be there if theres a problem to take care of which cost money to give.SERVICE,SERVICE,SERVICE means very little these day.Mostly its how low will you go.Being self employed and running a business I get this aditude all the time,my resolve is to say sorry I can't do the job for that amount maybe you should have your work done by the other guy.Sooner or later I have to fix what the otherguy screwed up.Then I get well I already spent $$ and can't you cut me a deal because I went cheap.In most case's it will cost more then my first quote.Anyway a lot of stores need that $200 to $600 because thats what move's.

[arriflex]

My business partner and I have an agreement- we don't undercut and try not to be the cheap guys in town, and we never apologize for our prices. It costs what it costs because the overhead determines it to be so.

I think a lot of folks have never tried to run their own business or havent ever really thought through a basic revenue stream for one. It's hard to turn a profit.....real hard!

[HAMFIST]

My business partner and I have an agreement- we don't undercut and try not to be the cheap guys in town, and we never apologize for our prices. It costs what it costs because the overhead determines it to be so.

I think a lot of folks have never tried to run their own business or havent ever really thought through a basic revenue stream for one. It's hard to turn a profit.....real hard!

Here here.

[fishstick]

It's hard to turn a profit.....real hard!

Yea, I don't know how the brick and mortar store competes with the online store today, free shipping, some sort of free return policy, must be really difficult.

With all the box stores who order in the 100 of thousands and get bigger discounts and 90 days to pay and no shipping its hard to compete

Probably why we only have Walmart/Target today. I remember growing up having many different small stores to buy from, not today.

[unclrob]

The choice's of where to do business is very limited for everything we buy.Me right now I do all my business local.I do have to deal with Staples now and again or Radio Shack but thats about it.Come to think of it I will need to go to Walmart to buy a new pair of jeans which I do every 5 years or so.I go to the local T-shirt shop once a year to buy rejects from print runs.My wife has turned me into a frugal{read as cheap} clothing buyer.I will need to go to Good Will for some dress shirts for gigging.

[love2play21]

I was fortunate enough to purchase mine from one in stock at Anderson Guitar in Frisco, now that was also back in 06. On another note while not the ideal store to purchase a nice guitar from in most cases I was thumbing through a GC flyer I got in the mail and they were advertising a Larrivee LC10rwi so it would seem as if they did a special order so maybe they are lookin at carrying a stock again in store. That would at least further the brand....assuming they are taken care of while on display.

[WPete]

Just got back from LaCrosse, Wisc where I stopped by Dave's Guitar Shop, Huge place - not a Larrivee dealer anymore, tho Larrivee website still lists them.
There was a table in back where they had 20+  new Gibson LP '85 customs done for Dave's 30th anniv w/ DGS30 in the headstock - price was 2x an RS-4.

This is the type of dealer I'd think Larrivee would profit from cultivating if they want to be bigger in electrics.

Upstairs there is a museum w/ over 400 guitars and amps - worth a visit if anyone ever gets near. link to collection is here:
http://davesguitar.com/daves-collection/browse/

Nice to see a brick and mortar store flourishing - imagine if they got in a couple RS4's and Bakersfields to try (then I could too )  
Good beer in Wisc too BTW.  

[GGBB]

It even seems difficult for successful brick & mortar stores to compete nowadays.  Here in the Toronto area there are several Larrivee dealers and they are all decent stores with a few of them being excellent.  And yet none of them carries a good selection of all that Larrivee has to offer - most stores stick to the 3 series almost exclusively and those that have 5s and 9s rarely have 10s or above.  Last summer I was ready to buy and was looking towards either a C-09/10 or an LSV-11.  Only one dealer had an LSV-11 and nobody had any Cs.  I don't think I've ever seen a 50 or 60 anywhere.  I ended up finally finding a C-09 hours away across the border (unfortunately it wasn't the C-09 for me).  I ended up buying used through Craigslist - mainly because I couldn't find what I wanted new - in Toronto, where JCL got started, the largest city in Canada, where Larrivee is well known and popular. 

I'm really tired of going to a dealer only to not find what I want.  I bought some Gotoh tuners a little while ago and had no luck finding them locally so I bought them from the net.  I have almost completely given up buying strings locally and now buy them from the web.  I had to buy a replacement string for my bass a couple of years ago so I went to a nearby bass-specialty dealer (who had a strong reputation for quality service) and he said he'd order it and have it in a couple of weeks.  Didn't happen, then it was a few more weeks, then a few more ... long story short - lots of excuses - he still hadn't ordered it three months later even though he sent me an email saying he had.  I ended up ordering it over the net and getting it within two weeks - which I could easily have done in the first place but I was trying to deal the old fashioned way - in person.  I never even got an apology - just excuses and lies.

I've nearly given up with local music dealers for new gear because they do not seem to try very hard when it comes to selection and service.  They are like malls - each one is the same with the same selection and same mediocre effort toward a better experience - you can only have what they want to sell you - the individual customer doesn't come first anymore - the masses do.  There are some wonderful people at some of the smaller dealers and I feel badly for them because I know how tough it must be.  I don't know what will come of the specialty brick & mortar retail business like music instrument stores.

/end-rant

[teh]

GGBB

I do think that more dealers are loading up on the 03 series for two reasons.

1) The Economy makes the higher end guitars harder to sell.
2) The great value of those guitars.

I guess I must just be incredibly lucky. From my home in NW PA, I am less than 90 minutes from two Larrivee Dealers (Trinity Guitars (35 miles) in Jamestown and The String Shoppe in Buffalo 84 miles). To the West, I am about three hours from Wildwood Music in Coshocton.

I have spent a fair amount of time at Trinity and while I have only been to Wildwood Music once but when I stopped they had a huge selection of Larrivees. Surprisingly, I have not been to the String Shoppe (in business for over 40 years) but one of my buddies has. I stopped by twice but they were closed and I went to their web site. They have 16 New Larrivees (excluding 03 and 02 series) and 2 used Larrivees D-50 and 000-60. I counted over 25 Larrivees that were not the 03 series at Wildwood's web site.

I am not sure where you live in Toronto but it would be a straight shot across southern Ontario to Michigan (Home of Elderly Instruments). They had 9 new Larrivees (all 03) and 6 used including two 50 and one 60 series. Or maybe it's the other way around. I made a 5.5 hour drive to Elderly.

With a couple of advance phone calls I find it hard to believe that any of these dealers wouldn't bend over backward to get you what you wanted. If you took two days, you could easily cover the Buffalo, Jamestown, Coshocton swing once the weather breaks.

[mas music]

 Not many years ago Larrivees were available at Sam Ash. Before that they were sold nation wide thought Guitar center. Times change. It seems Larrivee is a more dominant brand in Canada and Europe.Then again perhaps the net has made it more  cost effective do to business on line.

[GGBB]

With a couple of advance phone calls I find it hard to believe that any of these dealers wouldn't bend over backward to get you what you wanted. If you took two days, you could easily cover the Buffalo, Jamestown, Coshocton swing once the weather breaks.

I get that there are excellent dealers elsewhere, but I shouldn't have to drive several hours when there are well over a dozen Larrivee dealers within an hour's drive from me.  And I'm sure any of them would be happy to order me what I want, but that's not the point.  As we all know every guitar is unique, so I would have to play it before I bought anything.  As I mentioned - I did find one, drove three hours to get there, and alas it was a bit of a dud.  Had I ordered that guitar via the web (I could have had it shipped) I would have been quite disappointed.  Plus, if I'm just going to order it sight unseen, then I might as well buy it for the lowest price I can find through an online dealer.  I think some brick & mortar dealers think that it's enough to offer to order an item in when someone wants something they don't have in stock.  Personally, I don't think that is enough.  It doesn't tell me that you stand behind that product.  It tells me that you are only interested in low effort sales.  I infer that you are a small-time dealer struggling to stay profitable and therefore can only stock what moves well (supplying the masses not the customer).  I worked in specialty retail for about 8 years (ultra-high end audio).  I understand all of the challenges that face specialty retailers especially independents, including competition from big-box stores and online dealers.  My honest feeling is - go big or go home.  If you're not going to do it right, you will ultimately fail anyway, so just don't bother.  The really sad part of all this is that those who do try to do it right often also end up failing because what they do is appreciated by fewer and fewer people.  I'm one of those who does still appreciate that but all too often I find myself unable to find it.

[ffinke]

I get that there are excellent dealers elsewhere, but I shouldn't have to drive several hours when there are well over a dozen Larrivee dealers within an hour's drive from me.  And I'm sure any of them would be happy to order me what I want, but that's not the point.  As we all know every guitar is unique, so I would have to play it before I bought anything.  As I mentioned - I did find one, drove three hours to get there, and alas it was a bit of a dud.  Had I ordered that guitar via the web (I could have had it shipped) I would have been quite disappointed.  Plus, if I'm just going to order it sight unseen, then I might as well buy it for the lowest price I can find through an online dealer.  I think some brick & mortar dealers think that it's enough to offer to order an item in when someone wants something they don't have in stock.  Personally, I don't think that is enough.  It doesn't tell me that you stand behind that product.  It tells me that you are only interested in low effort sales.  I infer that you are a small-time dealer struggling to stay profitable and therefore can only stock what moves well (supplying the masses not the customer).  I worked in specialty retail for about 8 years (ultra-high end audio).  I understand all of the challenges that face specialty retailers especially independents, including competition from big-box stores and online dealers.  My honest feeling is - go big or go home.  If you're not going to do it right, you will ultimately fail anyway, so just don't bother.  The really sad part of all this is that those who do try to do it right often also end up failing because what they do is appreciated by fewer and fewer people.  I'm one of those who does still appreciate that but all too often I find myself unable to find it.

To every dealer,
There is a mantra,
Turn, Turn, Turn!


Margins, coupled with overhead and most mfg.'s requirements of minimum order and/or stocking parameters have just about killed the mom 'n' pop music stores (as well as other niche retail establishments). If names like Taylor, Martin and Gibson are associated with the big name artists we know that that's what we're going to buy when we go to the store. Unfortunately we don't listen closely enough to the sound these instruments emit; we only relate to the headstock graphics.

Another issue is to maintain a full service store there needs to be sales AND service (ask Rob). That's overhead and must be paid by a decreasing margin on product. If that product doesn't sell on a very regular basis the dollars can't go into things like salaries, new inventory or line expansion. Every time we get lucky and find a store that carries the lesser known or appreciated goods (i.e. Larrivee), play it, like it, and then buy it where we can save a few bucks (big box or on-line) we are working toward putting a retailer out of business. Like everything else we buy with our dollars but when a retailer hears "thanks for the information or the test drive but I can save a few bucks elsewhere", don't blame them for getting a little testy when we say "why don't you carry a full line of Larrivees?".

f

ps/

I think a lot of folks have never tried to run their own business or havent ever really thought through a basic revenue stream for one. It's hard to turn a profit.....real hard!

Been there, done that, own the T-shirt concession!

[unclrob]

When I worked for a Larrivee dealer we had lots of Larrivee's pretty much the full line plus limited runs with inlays.It was also the ONLY new acoustic guitar we carried.The other stuff was standard import stuff very low end.What helped us move guitars was I was a fan.We sold both local and mail order.If you called I would even play the guitar over the phone for you.Most store's you go into now don't have very knowledgable people working in them and most mail order is done by an order taker.When I left that store everyone asked when I was going to open my own place I had one simple answer.."when someone give's me a million dollars,$250K for inventory,$250K to keep it operating for 5 years,and the last $500K to sit on so my family and staff of 2 when the economy trashed".I left in May of 2006 and saw the writting on the wall.My wife and I went straight into survival mode and have been there since.I sold my stash of 180 guitars that were my retirement just to pay bills.I've brought myself down to if I make $40 a day 6 days a week I could pay the morgate and some of the grociers.Nothin else.Let me tell you its hard just pulling this off.So when a store just carries what it can sell and they can keep the doors open,well thats what you have to do or go on goverment assistance because getting a job not that easy any more.

[rockstar_not]

The choice's of where to do business is very limited for everything we buy.Me right now I do all my business local.I do have to deal with Staples now and again or Radio Shack but thats about it.Come to think of it I will need to go to Walmart to buy a new pair of jeans which I do every 5 years or so.I go to the local T-shirt shop once a year to buy rejects from print runs.My wife has turned me into a frugal{read as cheap} clothing buyer.I will need to go to Good Will for some dress shirts for gigging.

unclrob.  I get nearly all my 'dress casual' clothes for work at Goodwill.  While I have to wear the typical khaki pants, dress shirt thing - I'm an engineer and have to 'get under the hood' of some of our machines quite regularly.  Khakis at Goodwill usually run under $4, and I have one pair that are Haggar brand that have lasted 2+ years.  I have ruined a couple pair, but I don't mind heading to any of the 3 or 4 Goodwill stores in town to shop.  It's also where I buy my CDs these days.  We also have ARC and Salvation Army thrift stores in town, but the Goodwill stores blow them away for selection and organization.  Also got my son a sweet sounding clarinet there for $35 last winter.

[Anders451]

You have my sympathies. We only have one Larrivèedealer in entire Sweden :(

[GGBB]

You have my sympathies. We only have one Larrivèedealer in entire Sweden :(

And according to their web site, they have a better Larrivee inventory than any of the dealers in Toronto.