Brian
I run a small furniture retail business is a smaller town and we thinking of changing the store to offer close to 20 sofas at $399, love seats for $369, bedrooms (headboards, dressers, and mirror) for $399, occasional tables (2 end tables and cocktail)all at $199, and dining sets at $399. All will be from the same manufacturer and no in store stock. Some people who have ran this concept have doubled sales, but like I said this will be in a smaller town with several other furniture retailers in town and not near a major metropolis. When I say smaller town, I am comparing to large metro areas like Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago, etc. The town has about 10,000 people and about another 20,000-30,000 in the county. What is your opinion of this concept in this type of market?
Fonz, I was not at the market but the owner of the store was. This is the Furnish 1-2-3 concept by Ashley. It already cuts margin very low so making package deals is kinda out. We meet with the reps Wednesday so I was trying to do a little homework so I can see if it is just me that has concerns with this idea.
http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/456791-Ashley_retail_concept_enjoys_early_success.php
Answer
Brian, Are you planning to handle just the low end furniture? If so this might work with the right marketing. However, you will be creating an image of a low end store. And keep in mind that the longevity of "inexpensive" furniture is not good and most of the clients will have kids. I suggest you select some prime vendors and sell a nice mix. You might try putting together some package deals where they can get an entire room or the whole house. I found that the tickets get bigger when we sell in package and it's a good deal for the customers. Don't forget the lamps and rugs. And you can do all kinds of things with the marketing. Were you at High Point this week? I was wondering if a rep helped you with the idea...
Brian, Are you planning to handle just the low end furniture? If so this might work with the right marketing. However, you will be creating an image of a low end store. And keep in mind that the longevity of "inexpensive" furniture is not good and most of the clients will have kids. I suggest you select some prime vendors and sell a nice mix. You might try putting together some package deals where they can get an entire room or the whole house. I found that the tickets get bigger when we sell in package and it's a good deal for the customers. Don't forget the lamps and rugs. And you can do all kinds of things with the marketing. Were you at High Point this week? I was wondering if a rep helped you with the idea...
New guitar or new Amp?
Merlon C
I have a B.C Rich Warlock and a Little bitty marshal amp.MG series.
I was wondering whether I should pick up a new guitar or a new amp to get a better sound quality (I am a decent musician, just my gear is lacking)
Answer
It all depends. Are you gonna try and play in a band, or just sit at home and play? What style of music do you like, or do you want to sound like? What's your price range? Do you want a versatile guitar, or one geared toward a certain type of music?
Your guitar has almost nothing to do with your sound. It's your pickups. When looking for a new guitar, you need to find one that feels right, and that is built with quality wood and electronics and hardware. You want it to last you a few years, but one that's comfortable is the #1 thing to look for. The pickups can always be swapped out to change your sound, and doing that is MUCH cheaper than buying a new guitar. A pickup swap with decent pickups can run you around $150 for two humbuckers. Dimarzio, EMG and Seymour Duncan are a few of my favorite companies.
Some good all around guitars are Schecter C-1+, PRS, Gibson LP's.
Some that have their own style and sound are Hollow Bodies or strats
Amps are a whole other thing. Once you figured out what guitar and pickup combo you want, then it's time for the amp. If you use a crappy amp, with real nice pickups, you're still gonna get a bad sound. Tube amps are awesome, but need to be turned to high volumes to get that rich tone that they are known for. I would recommend one if you're gonna be in a band. Mesa Mark IV's are great, but they just got discontinued after like 17 years or so. I have one, and they are very versatile, in that they can be used for jazz, or metal.
Marshall MG's are just about the worst rated amps on the planet. They sound like mud. If you play with a drummer, you won't cut through the cymbals. If you play with another guitar player, you won't hear anything but loud nonsense from either guitar. It will basically just ruin your hearing, and shake the house.
A nice tube amp, for live performances, should be somewhere between 35 to 100 watts... but 100 watts is overkill. Mine goes to 85 watts, and can be cut down to 35, 50 and 70 watt intervals. I can barely get it to 4 or 5 on the master volume when it's at the 85 watt setting. You can still find 1 to 15 watt tube amps, which can still get a decent volume to them, but can be used for studio, or bedroom volumes. Infact, there is a company called Blackstar that has a decent 5 watter for only $399 on musiciansfriend.com I have no clue how they sound, but they have great reviews.
If you live in an apartment, you can look at POD's... they don't have great tone, but you can get so many different sounds and effects from them, not to mention the ability to record on to your computer.
If you still want a solidstate, you can check out Roland cubes. They are pretty decent. Marshall amps aren't my thing. The only ones I like are the 80's tube amps.
If you want a metal tone, you can get a Peavey 6505, or if you save up $5000, you can get the ultimate Diezel stack.
It all depends. Are you gonna try and play in a band, or just sit at home and play? What style of music do you like, or do you want to sound like? What's your price range? Do you want a versatile guitar, or one geared toward a certain type of music?
Your guitar has almost nothing to do with your sound. It's your pickups. When looking for a new guitar, you need to find one that feels right, and that is built with quality wood and electronics and hardware. You want it to last you a few years, but one that's comfortable is the #1 thing to look for. The pickups can always be swapped out to change your sound, and doing that is MUCH cheaper than buying a new guitar. A pickup swap with decent pickups can run you around $150 for two humbuckers. Dimarzio, EMG and Seymour Duncan are a few of my favorite companies.
Some good all around guitars are Schecter C-1+, PRS, Gibson LP's.
Some that have their own style and sound are Hollow Bodies or strats
Amps are a whole other thing. Once you figured out what guitar and pickup combo you want, then it's time for the amp. If you use a crappy amp, with real nice pickups, you're still gonna get a bad sound. Tube amps are awesome, but need to be turned to high volumes to get that rich tone that they are known for. I would recommend one if you're gonna be in a band. Mesa Mark IV's are great, but they just got discontinued after like 17 years or so. I have one, and they are very versatile, in that they can be used for jazz, or metal.
Marshall MG's are just about the worst rated amps on the planet. They sound like mud. If you play with a drummer, you won't cut through the cymbals. If you play with another guitar player, you won't hear anything but loud nonsense from either guitar. It will basically just ruin your hearing, and shake the house.
A nice tube amp, for live performances, should be somewhere between 35 to 100 watts... but 100 watts is overkill. Mine goes to 85 watts, and can be cut down to 35, 50 and 70 watt intervals. I can barely get it to 4 or 5 on the master volume when it's at the 85 watt setting. You can still find 1 to 15 watt tube amps, which can still get a decent volume to them, but can be used for studio, or bedroom volumes. Infact, there is a company called Blackstar that has a decent 5 watter for only $399 on musiciansfriend.com I have no clue how they sound, but they have great reviews.
If you live in an apartment, you can look at POD's... they don't have great tone, but you can get so many different sounds and effects from them, not to mention the ability to record on to your computer.
If you still want a solidstate, you can check out Roland cubes. They are pretty decent. Marshall amps aren't my thing. The only ones I like are the 80's tube amps.
If you want a metal tone, you can get a Peavey 6505, or if you save up $5000, you can get the ultimate Diezel stack.
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