I've been reading all your posts with great interest and I usually try to stay out of the discussion of music store policy because you all know I own a music store.
Fran hit the nail right on the head. It is really difficult for dealers like myself to make enough profit to keep my head above water.
When I started back in 1970, a 10% discount off retail was considered a good discount and most items were sold at full retail. With the market changing and more large stores opening, the discounts became larger, with 20 to 30% becoming the norm, at least here in the Los Angeles area.
Over the past few years, more and more lower price products have become the main stay of music stores with the occasional high end keyboard sale being way outnumbered by lower price instruments. Mixers, Guitars, Drums, etc. coming from China are great for the consumer, but bad for the dealers. It would be fine if you could sell so many more because of price, but this just isn't the case in most stores, at least in mine. Everyone makes good low end products and now even Best Buy, Costco, etc. are selling these. So, the dollars coming into my store have been shrinking.
I have found a niche market in the high end arranger keyboards, but unless the manufactures keep improving or coming out with new models, even this business shrinks from year to year. Thank goodness for my customers coming from forums like this.
It's a tough environment out there in 2006. I understand from friends in the industry that many of the Piano and Organ stores in areas like Florida who sell to many of the seniors you have been disussing here in this post are feeling this change in our industry, and are having a harder time maintaining that higher profit sale with more service, trade-up and lesson philosophy.
I don't know where things will go in another couple of years, but from my perspective, like Fran says, it's harder and harder to make it as a small dealer any more.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

[This message has been edited by George Kaye (edited 03-28-2006).]