Disappointing product range in NZ

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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by Molly »

MakoGat wrote: I recently spent a Saturday and visited 4 local stores looking for a number of patch cables which to me should be a pretty simple task, I could not find the quantity or quality I needed. Again Ill need to buy offshore. Its the little things, not just big ticket items.
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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by MakoGat »

Yeah, I know Molly, Jansen Audio also - I was just on the spot needed them on the Saturday, you know how it is LOL

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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by jeremyb »

So your lack of planning is the retailers fault? :mrgreen:
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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by mrmofo »

klarkash-ton wrote: Funnily enough, it was the same back in the 60's! Anyone want a Jansen guitar over a Fender/Gibson of the same era?
contrary to popular belief: in the 60`s Jansens were very thin on the ground and almost Impossible to get, rumor was there was a guy buying them up, repainting them, stripping them down into individual parts, the guitars were then carefully stored amongst 7 inch 45rpm Beatles records, to garner the best possible toneage, the same way Wine is stored under Paris. some of these guitars are ready to play and are released one by one on trade-me. New Zealand's answer to Moet or some aged cheddar I cant remember the name of.
There are still some that think the neck PU is moved to accommodate the extra frets which only proves they cannot detect the difference in length of each.

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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by Single coil »

... oh for fucks sake :lol:
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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by MakoGat »

jeremyb wrote:So your lack of planning is the retailers fault? :mrgreen:
On the spot need, no not retailers fault just frustrating :mrgreen:

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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by mrmofo »

was going to say, Auckland by world standards is a medium large city, certainly feels like it, I know I get all funny about lack of personal space. anyway, currently we sit at 101 largest city in the world. plenty bigger than many we like to drool over for speciality shops etc.
I do respect the guys with the nads enough to invest in unknowns, put the money where there mouth is and ship a bunch of sweet tops over for the tire kickers like me to judge.
then wait for the inevitable discount or to come up second hand many years and owners later.
so to all of you, thank you! for taking the chance and brightening up the stage, not that I`m walking down KRd with a 5K guitar ever again. but you know what I mean.
There are still some that think the neck PU is moved to accommodate the extra frets which only proves they cannot detect the difference in length of each.

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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by handsoffmatt »

This conversation comes up every few years, and I think I roll out a similar response every few years, but am happy to do so again.

For anybody new(ish) to the forum, I spent more than a decade as a senior manager at NZ Rockshop, and currently am the Australia/NZ Sales Manager for Roland & BOSS. I also sit on the executive committee of the Australian Music Association (Australia's counterpart to NAMM). I don't profess to know everything, but I reckon I'm fairly well placed to comment on this particular subject.

Living in NZ, people involved in "niche" hobbies/professions (e.g. guitar players) will never be able to enjoy the same product range as in larger economies like USA, Western Europe and some of the more wealthy Asian countries. Quite simply, there isn't the population / customer base to support it.

Consider this: every year at the NAMM show, it is a common complaint to hear that the USA market is oversupplied with product variation - i.e. there are "too many" guitar, amp and pedal manufacturers competing for business, that very few are able to make a profit.

Thanks to the power of modern marketing (i.e. the internet) now any guitar player in any backwater corner of the world (e.g. AU/NZ) has THE SAME level of information as a USA consumer. A NZ customer can now see (and lust after) literally any pedal, cable, amp, power supply, guitar or accessory made in any guy's backyard, learn all about it, listen to soundclips, and (quite naturally) start obsessing over owning one. From that, comes a desire to see one at their local store - and start up conversations like this one when they can't find it.

Now add to your consideration that the overall size of the NZ music market is somewhere approaching 1% of the USA market....which makes it less than half a percent of the global market. When the USA market is complaining of being overcrowded with product, how do you reckon that translates to NZ? I'll tell you. It is absolutely impossible (and getting harder) to stock enough equipment to make everyone happy.

Let's say that you've found on the internet some kind of non-mainstream product that EXACTLY fits your needs. You talk to your local Rockshop, and they don't have it - but will look into getting it for you. Perhaps you've got a great idea, and RS like the idea of stocking this product. The next step is for them to look at the viability, as there are MANY hurdles; including negotiating vendor agreements, minimum order qty's, production lead times and shipping logistics....to name just a few. All to take a gamble on being able to sell enough of them to turn a profit, when in fact it could end up being a product that only you and one other guy in NZ is willing to buy. It's important to stop and consider that as perfect as a piece of gear might be for you...YOU MAY BE THE ONLY ONE!!!

For a company such as Rockshop, Music Works etc to invest in stocking a product line, there HAS to be profitability in it. Sadly, there are precious few "boutique" products that can deliver genuine profitability to a NZ business (believe me, I've tried to get many cool brands going in NZ that simply didn't have enough demand to be viable). Over the years, there have been MANY operators who have started businesses with a focus on stocking "cool" product that you can't see at Rockshop/Music Works etc. They have all, without exception I can think of, gone out of business - usually in a cataclysmic fashion.

Somebody earlier in the thread mentioned Guitar Center. Have you ever been in any GC that is not the Hollywood Store? That is their flagship store and intentionally overstocked with as much cool stuff as they can find. All the other stores....mmmmm not so much. In my opinion (biased as it may be), the average Rockshop is a better shopping experience than the average GC. I think that sometimes people have these conversations with rose-tinted glasses on. There are few global chains in the world that carry the same diversity of range as NZ Rockshop. Yes, there are a few independent stores that carry a drool-inducing range of gear.....but there are precious few of them anywhere, and most of THESE are struggling to exist in the highly competitive MI market today.

What I'm trying to say is....you've actually got it pretty good in NZ. The quality of MI retail there for the microscopic size of the market is actually rather impressive (and well known as such throughout the global MI industry).


TL;DR: NZ's product range on the ground is actually pretty good when compared with any but a tiny number of stores worldwide. The perception of "all products in every store" in the USA is simply not real, and the product range you CAN get here is staggering, given the microscopic size of the NZ market (less than 0.5% of the global market).
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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by JustMatt »

handsoffmatt wrote:This conversation comes up every few years, and I think I roll out a similar response every few years, but am happy to do so again.

For anybody new(ish) to the forum, I spent more than a decade as a senior manager at NZ Rockshop, and currently am the Australia/NZ Sales Manager for Roland & BOSS. I also sit on the executive committee of the Australian Music Association (Australia's counterpart to NAMM). I don't profess to know everything, but I reckon I'm fairly well placed to comment on this particular subject.

Living in NZ, people involved in "niche" hobbies/professions (e.g. guitar players) will never be able to enjoy the same product range as in larger economies like USA, Western Europe and some of the more wealthy Asian countries. Quite simply, there isn't the population / customer base to support it.

Consider this: every year at the NAMM show, it is a common complaint to hear that the USA market is oversupplied with product variation - i.e. there are "too many" guitar, amp and pedal manufacturers competing for business, that very few are able to make a profit.

Thanks to the power of modern marketing (i.e. the internet) now any guitar player in any backwater corner of the world (e.g. AU/NZ) has THE SAME level of information as a USA consumer. A NZ customer can now see (and lust after) literally any pedal, cable, amp, power supply, guitar or accessory made in any guy's backyard, learn all about it, listen to soundclips, and (quite naturally) start obsessing over owning one. From that, comes a desire to see one at their local store - and start up conversations like this one when they can't find it.

Now add to your consideration that the overall size of the NZ music market is somewhere approaching 1% of the USA market....which makes it less than half a percent of the global market. When the USA market is complaining of being overcrowded with product, how do you reckon that translates to NZ? I'll tell you. It is absolutely impossible (and getting harder) to stock enough equipment to make everyone happy.

Let's say that you've found on the internet some kind of non-mainstream product that EXACTLY fits your needs. You talk to your local Rockshop, and they don't have it - but will look into getting it for you. Perhaps you've got a great idea, and RS like the idea of stocking this product. The next step is for them to look at the viability, as there are MANY hurdles; including negotiating vendor agreements, minimum order qty's, production lead times and shipping logistics....to name just a few. All to take a gamble on being able to sell enough of them to turn a profit, when in fact it could end up being a product that only you and one other guy in NZ is willing to buy. It's important to stop and consider that as perfect as a piece of gear might be for you...YOU MAY BE THE ONLY ONE!!!

For a company such as Rockshop, Music Works etc to invest in stocking a product line, there HAS to be profitability in it. Sadly, there are precious few "boutique" products that can deliver genuine profitability to a NZ business (believe me, I've tried to get many cool brands going in NZ that simply didn't have enough demand to be viable). Over the years, there have been MANY operators who have started businesses with a focus on stocking "cool" product that you can't see at Rockshop/Music Works etc. They have all, without exception I can think of, gone out of business - usually in a cataclysmic fashion.

Somebody earlier in the thread mentioned Guitar Center. Have you ever been in any GC that is not the Hollywood Store? That is their flagship store and intentionally overstocked with as much cool stuff as they can find. All the other stores....mmmmm not so much. In my opinion (biased as it may be), the average Rockshop is a better shopping experience than the average GC. I think that sometimes people have these conversations with rose-tinted glasses on. There are few global chains in the world that carry the same diversity of range as NZ Rockshop. Yes, there are a few independent stores that carry a drool-inducing range of gear.....but there are precious few of them anywhere, and most of THESE are struggling to exist in the highly competitive MI market today.

What I'm trying to say is....you've actually got it pretty good in NZ. The quality of MI retail there for the microscopic size of the market is actually rather impressive (and well known as such throughout the global MI industry).


TL;DR: NZ's product range on the ground is actually pretty good when compared with any but a tiny number of stores worldwide. The perception of "all products in every store" in the USA is simply not real, and the product range you CAN get here is staggering, given the microscopic size of the NZ market (less than 0.5% of the global market).
ALMOST all have gone out of business.

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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by handsoffmatt »

ToneLoungeMatt wrote: ALMOST all have gone out of business.
My apologies Matt. Indeed you are a good man, still out there fighting the good cause!
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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by JustMatt »

handsoffmatt wrote:
ToneLoungeMatt wrote: ALMOST all have gone out of business.
My apologies Matt. Indeed you are a good man, still out there fighting the good cause!
Haha, I need a cape.

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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by kdawg2a »

Having been to many guitar centres in weird parts of the States, I can confirm what Matt is saying is very true.
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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by Molly »

kdawg2a wrote:Having been to many guitar centres in weird parts of the States, I can confirm what Matt is saying is very true.
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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by MakoGat »

handsoffmatt - thanks for your comments and can understand what you have said, it 100% makes sense. To stock numbers of boutique amps, pedals, guitars may not be a wise decision in some cases.

Ive seen and heard comments of what people would like to see or general items they might need that are difficult to obtain locally. Im not talking obscure brands that nobody is aware of. This can be done and viable with little overheads while also offering services and manufacture of related products. Niche is fine if you are careful and I feel good on the guys willing to give it a go for the guitar community.

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Re: Disappointing product range in NZ

Post by Mini Forklift »

Worth a watch :wink:


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