RETAIL FORUM SUMMER SLOWDOWN
blues Summertime
for not being quite so jovial when the holiday season comes around – MI retailers. With the exception of hardcore, dedicated musicians, a fair proportion of end users in this industry prefer to make the most of the sunshine or go on holiday, rather than spend all day indoors playing their guitar or piano. This, of course, can have a dramatic
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impact on sales. Where the run-up to Christmas is seen as the most profitable period for dealers, the middle months of the year can offer the exact opposite. Although many store managers will
20 July 2011
e all love the summertime, but there is one section of society that could be forgiven
Summer sales can help fill the shop
The arrival of warm weather might cheer up the average individual, but it is often a troublesome time for dealers. Adam Savage discovers a number of ways in which retailers can cope during the slow season…
simply see this as an inevitability – and adopt a ‘well, what can you do?’ approach – there are ways to tempt customers away from the pool or the beach and back into your shop. One sensible option is to take advantage of one demographic that is around in abundance throughout this period: children. Musicale in Harpenden is an example
of a retailer that has established a nationwide summer tuition service called Holidays, which introduces young people to music at locations scattered across the country. “It is such a quiet time of year, but if
dealers are prepared to put in the work and effort, I would recommend putting on
some sort of summer school,” says David Johnston, Musicale director. “Courses have been peaking at the same size recently and we have definitely been affected by the recession this year, but if you can get hold of good teachers who can motivate and get children to enjoy the experience, there is still a future for it.” Attempting to match Musicale’s level of
success in this field might be a challenge – it’s taken over 30 years for it to get to this stage – but starting from scratch with even the most basic of teaching services is still a great way to attract more attention towards a shop when business is slow. Other shops instead take the fall in
visitor numbers as an opportunity to get on with some of the various chores and
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