Klarinet Archive - Posting 000466.txt from 2005/04

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Latest Clarinet Gossip - Buffet Sold Again????
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 20:53:30 -0400

At 08:44 AM 4/29/2005 -0500, Tom.Henson wrote:
>...(Lisa Agiris) says that D'Addario has severed all ties with
>Vandoren and are going their own way now that they have Rico, and plan to
>compete directly against Vandoren. She does not mention who the new Vandoren
>distributor is for Vandoren in the USA.

The new distributor is an outfit called DANSR (pronounced
"dancer"). http://www.dansr.com/ As far as I can determine, distributing
Vandoren products is all they do.

>Lisa also says that now that Selmer USA has bought Leblanc, that this will
>not bode well for their relationship with Selmer Paris. Selmer USA has an
>exclusive agreement to be the sole distributor for Selmer Paris instruments
>in the USA which is their biggest market. Now that they are competing
>directly against them with the Leblanc clarinets, one has to wonder that
>having complete control over the USA distribution of Selmer Paris clarinets
>how this will all wash out. Do I sense a conflict of interest here? She says
>that this will surely result in some sparks flying. I also have a feeling
>that Selmer USA will be able to put quite a bit of pressure on Selmer Paris,
>possibly with a goal in mind of eventually buying them up as well.

I don't think Conn-Selmer is willing to jeopardize the relationship too
much. The Selmer Paris clarinet market may not be that strong here, but the
franchise on Selmer Paris saxophones cannot be replaced by Leblanc's
Yanagisawa line. Selmer Paris has finally gotten of their dead laurels and
revamped the clarinet line, but whether the new models will be strong
enough to compete remains to be seen. Hmmm...maybe Conn-Selmer should buy
BUFFET next!

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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