RETAIL
NEWS, OPINION, DATA NEWS
Gear4Music introduces new electronic drums , Red Dog picks up new MIA monthly award
INDIE PROFILE
Reading’s 100-year-old store explains a policy of no compromise regarding customer service
RETAIL FEATURE
Dawsons expands into Yorkshire with opening of new Leeds store
Tenth store in chain with a more rock n roll focus to cater for proliferation of young bands after recognising gap in market, covering everything from the high-end to entry-level gear
the Pennines, to the city of Leeds. Known for providing customers with an extensive selection across all sectors of MI, this new retail outlet is no different, but it also offers more of an emphasis on the guitar and rock n roll side of the market, compared to the other existing stores in the Dawsons chain. MI Pro got hold of the shop’s assistant
D
manager Johnny West, who was keen to point out why this decision was made. “We’ve set up a deal to stock Gibson and Epiphone and these are obviously huge brands to have, so we wanted to make the most of this deal,” says West. “There are a lot of young bands in
Leeds, so we’re looking to fill the gap left by the likes of Sound Control in order to offer them a service. Before we opened, many of them were travelling as far away as Manchester to go to a music shop.” As well as the aforementioned brands, Dawsons Music also stocks instruments
WWW.MI-PRO.CO.UK
awson’s Music opened its tenth shop on February 12th, this time deciding to extend its reach across
from a variety of other top names, such as Fender, Ibanez, Yamaha, Marshall, Roland and Boss. Highly experienced Dawsons salesman Rick Manning has been hired as the store’s manager, having moved on from working at Arbiter and Fender over the last few years. Alongside
products from the above companies, there will also be instruments on show from lower priced alternatives, in order to suit
“
numbers of eager musicians, particularly guitarists, who were all keen to check out what this new arrival to the city centre had to offer. “The turnout on Saturday [February
Leeds is one of the three big cities in the north, so it seemed like the obvious place to go.
those on a tighter budget. Aside from the increased guitar presence, the Leeds shop is also home to an array of pianos, keyboards, amps, drums, percussion, trumpets, saxophones, clarinets, hard disk recorders, music software, synthesizers and much more.
As you would expect – when you
consider West’s previous comments about the apparent need for a shop such as this in Leeds – the opening attracted high
12th] was fantastic, which is of course very positive for us,” West continues. “Leeds is one of the three big cities in the north, so it seemed like the obvious place for Dawsons to go next. Dawsons is
also often thought of as mainly a North West chain, too.” It is still early days for the store, so
getting it noticed by the city’s locals is one of the main priorities right now. “We just want to let the people of Leeds know that we’re here. We’re the only MI shop in the city centre and have more than 100 guitars on the wall so for now we’re just looking to get ourselves established,” he concludes.
Octave Music celebrates 25 years in
business and describes its laid back method of coping
SECRET SHOPPER
The Secret Shopper heads out to Ipswich and discovers that the world of MI is well covered
MIA Paul
McManus goes through some smart ideas for increasing footfall
miPRO MARCH 2011 71
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92