Dawson's?

Whitecat

There is suddenly a LOT of "ex-demo" stuff in the 'sale' section of their website though...

tony99

Alnico said:

Just been into the Liverpool store where I know some staff and the manager.

They're not closing.

A few stores closed already as we all knew but the remaining stores aren't in any trouble, they haven't sold it or folded and they're not going anywhere.

Haha you should've said you know me!! I bought my strat in there a few years ago. 


Although they probably won't remember me to be fair.


Also, I've just realised that you don't know me either.

Alnico

Whitecat said:

There is suddenly a LOT of "ex-demo" stuff in the 'sale' section of their website though...

Yes, they've been selling it all off for months now.

Latest bargain which I missed was a brand new JCM 800 2203X that had never even been switched on, just sat there looking pretty ... £819 !!!

They seem making shop floor space for new products due in and also there's some stuff to shift from the stores that did close.

guitars4you

Whitecat said:

There is suddenly a LOT of "ex-demo" stuff in the 'sale' section of their website though...

My gut feeling, based on who/what the owner is, they will try to run the business with a lower stock level, to be more efficient ref return on capital - Dragon Den style investors hate stock and hate excess/slow stock even more

FarleyUK

Literally just came out of the Reading Dawsons with a brand new boxed 2019 Les Paul Standard... no mention of them closing, lots of new stock lying around being unpacked.

tony99

FarleyUK said:

Literally just came out of the Reading Dawsons with a brand new boxed 2019 Les Paul Standard... no mention of them closing, lots of new stock lying around being unpacked.

You mean you stole one???

SteveRobinson

guitars4you said:

Dragon Den style investors hate stock and hate excess/slow stock even more

Have they been advising AllParts UK?

Barnezy

Sad but actually stores must struggle to be profitable. Rent, rates, staff, people damaging stocks, etc..... all whilst keeping your prices competitive with online. Much easier to set your HQ up in a low tax location and run a website. Adertons have it right, 1 flagship store and tons of online presence to sell nationwide. The days of trying a guitar before you buy it might soon be over. 

pintspiller

Whitecat said:

There is suddenly a LOT of "ex-demo" stuff in the 'sale' section of their website though...

Probably the ex-demo stuff they were selling in their branches in Feb/March. Got a DSL1 combo in Belfast. I think it's better than my MK1 HT1

FarleyUK

tony99 said:

FarleyUK said:

Literally just came out of the Reading Dawsons with a brand new boxed 2019 Les Paul Standard... no mention of them closing, lots of new stock lying around being unpacked.

You mean you stole one???

Yep.

....which is why they're probably shutting down due to crap security 

iheartreverb

guitars4you said:

Whitecat said:

There is suddenly a LOT of "ex-demo" stuff in the 'sale' section of their website though...

My gut feeling, based on who/what the owner is, they will try to run the business with a lower stock level, to be more efficient ref return on capital - Dragon Den style investors hate stock and hate excess/slow stock even more

This is exactly what’s going on. Even if someone was planning on running down a business it’s far more common to keep the trust from the suppliers and continue with buying, especially those part of a dealership requirement hence there still being stock there Andy new stock.

At this point it doesn’t have anything to do with what they do or don’t offer, customer experience or anything else although those factors have contributed on the way here.
it was bought for assets and will eventually close, anyone’s home works for them and feels safe definitely shouldn’t do but this isn’t their fault obviously. 

Strat_a_tat_tat

iheartreverb said:

guitars4you said:

Whitecat said:

There is suddenly a LOT of "ex-demo" stuff in the 'sale' section of their website though...

My gut feeling, based on who/what the owner is, they will try to run the business with a lower stock level, to be more efficient ref return on capital - Dragon Den style investors hate stock and hate excess/slow stock even more

This is exactly what’s going on. Even if someone was planning on running down a business it’s far more common to keep the trust from the suppliers and continue with buying, especially those part of a dealership requirement hence there still being stock there Andy new stock.

At this point it doesn’t have anything to do with what they do or don’t offer, customer experience or anything else although those factors have contributed on the way here.
it was bought for assets and will eventually close, anyone’s home works for them and feels safe definitely shouldn’t do but this isn’t their fault obviously. 

???? I don't understand much of that

Skipped

This is not great is it.

Sounds Great seem to have ceased their Gibson dealership. If the North West lose Dawsons stores then it will be just .......PMT?

How can Manchester not have a Coda or a Peach? Or a GuitarGuitar.

There was anecdotal evidence (here) that Dawsons did not take trade ins. I cannot confirm that but I have never seen a second hand guitar on their website.

Is "part exchange" not a fundamental requirement of a music retailer? (see "Coda", "Peach".....)

guitars4you

Skipped said:

This is not great is it.

Sounds Great seem to have ceased their Gibson dealership. If the North West lose Dawsons stores then it will be just .......PMT?

How can Manchester not have a Coda or a Peach? Or a GuitarGuitar.

There was anecdotal evidence (here) that Dawsons did not take trade ins. I cannot confirm that but I have never seen a second hand guitar on their website.

Is "part exchange" not a fundamental requirement of a music retailer? (see "Coda", "Peach".....)

Correct about Dawson's and no trade ins

Many of the UK's finest guitar stores do not operate in the big major cities - Andertons, Peach, Coda, Mansons, Guitar Village, World Guitars, Sound Affects, Wildwire etc etc    - I think Leeds is similar to Manchester in that the only Gibson dealer is PMT + Dawson's

iheartreverb

Skipped said:

This is not great is it.

Sounds Great seem to have ceased their Gibson dealership. If the North West lose Dawsons stores then it will be just .......PMT?

How can Manchester not have a Coda or a Peach? Or a GuitarGuitar.

There was anecdotal evidence (here) that Dawsons did not take trade ins. I cannot confirm that but I have never seen a second hand guitar on their website.

Is "part exchange" not a fundamental requirement of a music retailer? (see "Coda", "Peach".....)

It (part exchange) will be relatively important, these after aspirational products after all and people are always wanting to move up the ladder. If a customer doesn’t have the offer of simple facility to bring one in, add cash and leave with what they want then they are obviously going to find a retailer that can. 
I really hope this doesn’t descend into the usual “rip off merchants” thing as when usually discussing part exchanges, the retailer needs to make hire part too but some people will want to avoid the hassles of a private sale and Dawson’s (as part of their many failings) have failed to act on this.

to those who didn’t understand my previous comment. All I’m saying is that the fact that there’s stock in the stores and newer stock coming in create a different picture to what she happening. It is common to do this when taking the assets out of a business as to suggest its “business as usual” when it isn’t, there’s no doubt that it will close at some point.

guitars4you

iheartreverb said:

To those who didn’t understand my previous comment. All I’m saying is that the fact that there’s stock in the stores and newer stock coming in, creates a different picture to what is happening. It is common to do this when taking the assets out of a business, as to suggest its “business as usual” when it isn’t, there’s no doubt that it will close at some point.

2 big figures in the trade have already passed similar comments to me, based on their viewpoint

Gimlet

Skipped said:

This is not great is it.

Sounds Great seem to have ceased their Gibson dealership. If the North West lose Dawsons stores then it will be just .......PMT?

How can Manchester not have a Coda or a Peach? Or a GuitarGuitar.

There was anecdotal evidence (here) that Dawsons did not take trade ins. I cannot confirm that but I have never seen a second hand guitar on their website.

Is "part exchange" not a fundamental requirement of a music retailer? (see "Coda", "Peach".....)

Not sure if it was a company-wide policy, but the Altrincham branch of Dawsons used to when it was on Stamford New Rd, I bought and traded several guitars there during the late 90s.

Musicman20

The North is unfortunately pretty shit for guitar shops. When people say take a visit down South, once you factor in hotel and petrol or train I may as well buy online and use the money for much cheaper visits to Berlin etc hahahahaha!

Modellista

Musicman20 said:

The North is unfortunately pretty shit for guitar shops. When people say take a visit down South, once you factor in hotel and petrol or train I may as well buy online and use the money for much cheaper visits to Berlin etc hahahahaha!

Ok, so there aren’t many high quality indies up north but that’s a bit harsh on places like PMT and GuitarGuitar, who do have faults but are also decent shops. Fancy having a go on a three grand Martin? Just pop in and Bob’s your oyster.