Why isn’t Wickenburg large enough for a shoe store, but it has a mandolin store?

The answer is simple.  A shoe store relies on local traffic for its market.  The Mandolin store does 80% or more of its business over the Internet.  Stop by and visit Brian or Dennis at the Mandolin store on West Wickenburg Way.  Dennis had the business in rural Ohio and moved it to Wickenburg.  He is a creative businessman doing a great job marketing to a very small and unique group of customers.  People who want his product will buy on-line, over the phone, or travel many hundreds of miles to feel, hold, and play his instruments.  Trust me, he will bring a lot of people into Wickenburg to shop at his store.  Other creative business people will make friends with Dennis, capitalize on his success, and figure out a way to get those new Wickenburg visitors into their businesses. 

Comments

[Ivan]

Music stores doing business online is a GREAT opportunity, especially if the store has a physical location as well.
Growing up as a brass musician in suburban New Jersey, I had the pleasure of shopping at one of the world's finest brass instrument shops - Dillon Music in Woodbridge, NJ. The store was on a back street in a bad part of town. No signs. And if you didn't know it was there, you'd think it was an empty building. But inside was a whole different story.
The inside featured walls and walls of the most amazing instruments you could imagine. They just hung there for any shopper to pick up and blow. Anything from authentic centuries-old precursors to modern instruments to custom trumpets or euphoniums, it was all in their shop.
And people travelled to find it! You couldn't walk through there without bumping into professionals from as close as New York to as far as Europe. Their extensive Wall-of-Fame featured many of the amazing musicians who frequent their shop - Wynton Marsalis, Steven Mead, Joe Alessi, Doc Severenson, Fred Mills, Maynard Ferguson, Scott Mendoker (OK – I’m partial because he was my teacher!). You name it, people found it.
A few years back, they launched a website - www.dillonmusic.com - and it just compounded their business. You can find anything in their store - used or new - right from your desk anywhere in the world. And then, the dedicated will of course travel there to try multiple instruments to find the perfect one.
Niche businesses do strong business for themselves and their neighbors. A fine mandolin store will undoubtedly be a boon to our town and bring some amazing musicians through for a day or two. I am looking forward to seeing the effects this may have on our cultural scene. Keep your eye peeled, because there is more opportunity here than may meet the eye.