Klarinet Archive - Posting 000086.txt from 2003/11

From: "Ken Wolman" <kwolman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] music123
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 15:38:11 -0500

Tim Parks wrote:

>Walmart is an unhealthy state of mind.
>
As long as we're on The Big Store (not the Marx Brothers movie):

I've had reasonable dealings with WWBW, by internet/phone and in person,
when they had the 23rd Street store in Manhattan. That was quite
pleasant indeed. I bought several mouthpieces from them via the
computer and never got screwed. I suppose it is possible (is it?) to
buy a mouthpiece brand new that immediately needs to be refaced, but if
so, then I've been lucky. I don't know why the Manhattan store closed.
Probably not enough sales to cover the rent, which had to be atrocious.
The times I was in there it was not at all busy.

Weiner Music I find difficult to deal with. Yes, many people on this
list have made the pilgrimage to Mineola, LI, but I'm not able to do
that. I might have a different impression in that case. Their online
ordering system is cumbersome and insecure, and if you need to return
something, so many terms and conditions apply that you need to be a
divorce lawyer to read the fine print about how to get separated from
what you don't want. Their phone service people act like they're doing
you a favor by talking to you. And no, I do not get on the phone with
an attitude. I just write that way.

Muncy, as Nancy said, is a splendid firm: courteous and prompt. All I
bought from them was a Fobes Debut mouthpiece, but I was treated as
though I were buying a Buffet low-C extension bass. I think that is
called "building a new customer." I suspect International Music
Suppliers is also top-drawer: one of the sales guys spent a lot of phone
time with me and took me through the pros and cons of various
instruments he had in stock. He didn't arm-twist me into making a
decision NOW.

As for Sam Ash, fuhgeddaboudit (sorry, the Noo Yawkah comes out). The
people who work up front at the register are helpful. The guys who sell
instruments and accessories act like you're interrupting their day, and
at least one knew less about what he was sellingthan I did--and that's
saying something. This applies to the Ash on West 48th Street. The Ash
in Columbus, Ohio is fabulous, and the one in Edison, NJ is helpful and
well-stocked, albeit overpriced. A few weeks ago I was indeed able to
pick up a Selmer Series 9, sold directly by the guy who rebuilt it
(that's right, I got to try it out first!), for $450 less than
Ash/Edison wanted for the same model, but needing a major overhaul.

The aggregate points made by Tim, Walter, Nancy, et al., point at a huge
mess. How can a small "boutique" dealer hope to compete against volume
buyers who I am sure get preferential treatment (and rates?) from the
Big Four? How many people can afford the MSRP on a new clarinet or any
musical instrument? I don't doubt that the business is getting
"Walmarted": you have employees who I would guess have less and less of
an idea of what they're doing, but are simply there to move
merchandise. How many of them are professional--or even skilled
amateur--musicians? How many of these stores give you more than one
instrument to try out? Okay, I have heard Weiner does precisely
that--but that's if you can get to Long Island. Will the others send
you a bunch of clarinets for play-testing?

For those of you with access to the online New York Times, there's an
interesting story today about Walmart's use of contract labor from
Eastern Europe and Mexico. These guys are working as janitors, 7 days a
week, no days off (one man worked 8 months without a day off), of course
no benefits, for a net of $360 a week. Walmart and its shark
contractors right now are in colossal piles of icky stuff with the
government because these employees are illegals. Having been in a
couple of Walmarts and seen the resentful, I-don't-give-a-rat's-rear
faces of the employees, and having been snapped at by an employee who
said "We don't sell that!", while I appreciate that we all need to work,
I would be just as happy if Walmart's doors were padlocked and grass
grew between the floor tiles. Maybe the small service-oriented shops
could get back into business again.

Ken

--
Kenneth Wolman
Proposal Development Department
Room SW334
Sarnoff Corporation
609-734-2538

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