PHOTO : GETTY IMAGES FOR NAMM
DONOVAN BANKHEAD
ALAN FRIEDMAN ( RIGHT ) & COLLEAGUE DANIEL JOBE PRESENTING AT NAMM U
going to want anything that provides a better experience or convenience .”
This idea of experience , and how this will define in-store retail has been a reoccurring theme in so many conversations that Canadian Music Trade has had recently . Just see our interview with Gibson President and CEO James “ JC ” Curleigh in the last issue , or the interview with NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond elsewhere in this issue , or the interview with Diane Brisebois of Retail Council of Canada in the sidebar of this article . They all believe that offering an experience is what now separates in-store shopping from online .
“ I think MI stores generally do a good job of making their stores that type of place . But if we ’ re being truthful , not every MI store does a good job of that . There ’ s a fair amount of MI stores that aren ’ t particularly well stocked . Maybe the staff isn ’ t particularly welcoming or friendly . Even if it is , I think it ’ s probably an area that all of us could be challenged by ,” adds Bankhead . “ I know over the past two weeks , as I ’ ve had friends come down to visit my stores , and mystery shop my stores , and it ’ s challenged my thinking on this a little bit . Like , ‘ Yeah , I need to reinvest in this , especially as people will start to shop more .’”
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Throughout the conversation with CMT , Bankhead reiterates this point : For a musician in your town , what about your store makes it worth the time and effort to drive to your store versus get it online ?
“ That experience has to be worthwhile ,” says Bankhead . “ That ’ s always been the case , but now people are going to be thirsty for it . I think they ’ re going to be hungrier for that experience and they ’ re going to want it , and if you can give them that experience , and even exceed what they ’ re hoping for – and exceeding is the important part – then they ’ ll come .”
There is one bonus , though , from the pandemic adaptations that Bankhead likes and wants to keep ( as opposed to local delivery and / or curbside pickups , which he plans to keep simply because customers want it ). That is , offering virtual lessons .
“ The virtualization of lessons has been a silver lining . That ’ s going to continue forever now . You will have people that will prefer the in-person experience . But just because someone moves away won ’ t necessarily mean that they ’ ll stop lessons now ,” he notes . Bankhead remembers a pre-pandemic NAMM U session by Mike and Miriam Risko about eliminating make-up lessons by offering virtual lessons as an alternative . “ We ’ ve already changed our inclement weather policy . Our previous inclement weather policy basically followed what happened at our local school systems . Not anymore ; it ’ s just like , if the weather ’ s really bad outside , then the lessons will be virtual . So , that ’ s going to continue forever , I think .”
For an MI-focused retail financial expert like Friedman , it ’ s interesting how the pandemic threw a wrench in a couple of his long-held beliefs and common advice . Just like how it created doubt about the invincibility of rental programs for band and orchestra dealers , it also caused him to question his previous advice about inventory .
“ I ’ ve been yakking for years – and I understand it really , really well – the importance of keeping inventory levels lean and mean ,” he says , noting that margins for popular products and brands are pretty immutable . As such , for decades he ’ s warned MI retailers about the danger of overstocking items that don ’ t move quickly . “ And what happens ? A pandemic comes along and proves me completely wrong . Because the supply chain got so interrupted and it was so difficult to get product – because the manufacturers were experiencing the same thing the retailers and every business was experiencing , which is COVID hit and you can ’ t get workers in , and you can ’ t get raw materials from those factories . It just went down the chain . And so , the retailers who were over-inventoried had product sell , then did really well . Now , it makes you take a step back and go , ‘ Was the advice I was giving right ?’ It was right until the pandemic hit .”
And so , with some reflection , the lesson Friedman has taken from it is this : “ The lesson has really not changed , but it becomes even more important to run a profitable business and leave the profits in the business . And the reason why is because if you ’ re constantly stripping out the cash and the profits of the business for your personal life , you ’ re not allowing yourself the financial cushion to carry inventory , God forbid a pandemic happens and there ’ s a disruption to the supply chain . So , I ’ m not saying to way overstock in inventory , but you want to keep an ample supply of things that you ’ re selling a lot of ; accessories mostly . But that ’ s been a change because of the pandemic .”
It ’ s been a heck of a hard year , and sadly we ’ ve lost a lot of stores and other businesses along the way . So , like Bankhead said from the start , if you ’ re still here for the grand reopening , our hats off to you . But now is not the time to rest on our laurels , because the retail landscape will be as challenging as ever .
“ I think everyone who owns a store should assume , ‘ I ’ m not as good as I think I am ; I bet I ’ m only satisfying most of my customers . So , what can I do to exceed that , and to make it where I exceed their expectations and they ’ re thrilled ?’” That ’ s the challenge right there ,” Bankhead says in closing . “ Because if you can do that , and you can combine that with the fire that ’ s already raging , if customers want to get out and shop and experience stuff , and then you ’ re providing this experience that ’ s beyond what they were expecting – like , “ Oh my gosh , this is terrific ” – then you ’ re going to kill it over the next couple of years , without a doubt .”
Michael Raine is the Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Music Trade .