closer to the nearby big cities of Minneapolis or Chicago, for example, attract even more customers through the door? “I’ve never really thought about expansion. We own half a block here so there’s plenty of room to expand if we need to and having a second store wouldn’t buy us anything,” says Rogers. “The business we miss out on by not being near a big city we make up for in our costs being much less expensive. We had a satellite store at one time, but all it did was increase our expenses. “We’re very comfortable where we’re at
and I wouldn’t have a store anywhere else – we always have a blast and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else this fun. We always get people coming in saying they didn’t expect to find a place like this in La Crosse and bands are always surprised when they come in.” It may have his name on the logo, but the success of Dave’s Guitar Shop is just as much to do with the rest of Rogers’
www.mi-pro.co.uk
Some 85 per cent of the shop’s sales come from outside of its local area
workforce as the man himself, especially as many of his colleagues have been part of the furniture for quite some time. “We’ve got 13 members of staff and a lot of them have been working here for 15 to 20 years. Each has their own area of expertise – we’ve got a PRS guy and a Suhr specialist, for example.” The growing number of high-end and
vintage guitar specialists going out of business recently – here in the UK at least – is a pretty clear indication that dealing in Rogers’ area of the market is more challenging than it has been for quite some time. So what does he have to say to dealers aspiring to reach his level of success, as well as those looking to get started? “This industry has not seen growth and
I’ve seen a lot of businesses go under. The vintage guys got stuck with a lot of inventory when the market was peaking and now it’s all about keeping your cash flowing. A lot of guys have been driving the prices up – especially non-guitarists
who see guitars as simply investments – but now they’ve started getting back into the hands of real guitar players. I’m just glad I’m not setting up a shop in this day and age.” Hardly words of encouragement then, but it has become essential for most retailers dealing in high-end gear to maintain a balance with higher margin lines at lower price points. You won’t see a cheap Chinese-made rip-off or budget brand guitar at Dave’s though – far from it. So how is this store an exception to the rule? What’s his secret? “I’m the worst businessman in the
world,” he adds modestly. “All I know is that I can buy a guitar for ‘this price’ and then sell it for ‘that price.’” That may be all there is to it, but
Rogers’ journey from a guy with a tiny shop making no money to one of the world’s most acclaimed vintage sellers is fairly solid proof that, despite what he says, his business sense is about as sharp as it gets in MI retail.
July 2012 59
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