Time To Call It A Day - Guitars4You Is Closing The Shop

Moleman

I must admit to feeling conflicted by your news - on the one hand I’m pleased to hear that you’re going on your own terms and in your own time (as you and others here have said). Then I realise that I’ve never made it up from London to visit your shop so our few dealings over years have always been driven by your website (and more latterly at shows). Just as well as I shall have more guitars to offer up for part-ex or sale in the coming weeks...

Barnezy

Best of luck. 

I work with retailers on their transition from physical to digital retail. You would think some things are of limits when it comes to physical retail such as clothing or even guitars, but it is proving not to be the case as consumers become ever more confident in buying goods unseen and in some respects, prefer to given the added consumer rights they recieve. It won't be long until a generation of consumers who were born with digital retail existing, are the core consumers and the only physical shops left will be convenience stores, although even these could face a threat from services such as Amazon Now. Despite this change being bad for legacy businesses that have invested in physical premises and stock, it also offers a great opportunity. It's never been easier or cheaper to start a business. The risks now are minimal, but with this the rewards are less.

merlin

Good luck with the future Mark. It sounds to me that you will be enjoying a better quality of life in many ways. All the best. 

guitars4you

rsvmark said:

Mark
sorry to hear the news but if you are bowing out (well half way at least) on your terms, then fair play To you. I still have my Strat which combined with the Two rock is sublime. I’ll pop over for a chat on the Sunday at the guitar show and make a brazen attempt to relieve you of some stock! 

Keep in touch Mark and I'll see you at the Brum show 

guitars4you

PhilKing said:

Good luck with your future endeavors.  I know what you mean about the shows being fun.  If I ever make them in when I'm back, I'll try to look you up. In the past I've always ran into someone I knew (or sometimes who knew me!).

Spoke to Dixie the other day and he sends his regards - He is keeping okay

Thanks for the message - Best wishes Mark

guitars4you

Moltisanti said:

All the best for the future Mark, i had a great time both times i came to your shop, especially leaving with a CS Strat last time. Your shop was always top notch in terms of inventory and quality, easily the best i visited in the UK.
Cheers Rik

Thanks Rik - I'll be still here for a few more weeks yet but hopefully will see you at a show near Manchester - Best wishes

guitars4you

ThorpyFX said:

Mark, really sad to hear you are shuttering..... however I’m sure I’ll see you at some shows in the future. Here’s wishing you all the best in your future endeavours 

Best wishes - Yes I'm sure we'll bump into each other at various shows throughout 2020

guitars4you

gringopig said:

Good luck! Hope all goes well in the future.

brooom said:

best of luck for your future.

Nikc said:

Enjoy when its time its time - shame because cool guitar shops are cool - but when its time its time enjoy

Thanks guys - I'll still be around on FB as much as before - The shop will stay as a base for sometime to come as I need storage area for guitars for the shows, workshop/bench, so I'll be around in some capacity for a while - And of course exhibiting at various shows this year 

guitars4you

HarrySeven said:

Nice one, Mark!

I'm sure we'll still see plenty of each other H - best wishes

guitars4you

MikeS said:

Mark, It's been a pleasure being a customer of yours. Your selling style and ethos was a breath of fresh air, and always beautifully informative. I wish you all the best on the road ahead, and I hope to meet you at some point at one of the shows.

I'm still around in some capacity - Keep an eye on the web from time to time

The closest we'll get to a guitar show for you is Carlisle in Aug - I know of no plans for any shows in Scotland

Best wishes - Mark

guitars4you

Moleman said:

I must admit to feeling conflicted by your news - on the one hand I’m pleased to hear that you’re going on your own terms and in your own time (as you and others here have said). Then I realise that I’ve never made it up from London to visit your shop so our few dealings over years have always been driven by your website (and more latterly at shows). Just as well as I shall have more guitars to offer up for part-ex or sale in the coming weeks...

Thanks for the message - Will be attending at the show at Kempton again in 2020 - Might even look at the Guitarist Show ? - New Show at Oxford in 2020 (have not got dates with me) so watch this space - Best wishes Mark

guitars4you

Barnezy said:

Best of luck. 

I work with retailers on their transition from physical to digital retail. You would think some things are of limits when it comes to physical retail such as clothing or even guitars, but it is proving not to be the case as consumers become ever more confident in buying goods unseen and in some respects, prefer to given the added consumer rights they recieve. It won't be long until a generation of consumers who were born with digital retail existing, are the core consumers and the only physical shops left will be convenience stores, although even these could face a threat from services such as Amazon Now. Despite this change being bad for legacy businesses that have invested in physical premises and stock, it also offers a great opportunity. It's never been easier or cheaper to start a business. The risks now are minimal, but with this the rewards are less.

I hear what you are saying - I was chatting to a customer only yesterday about this - I started in retail when 100% of your business came through the front door - Only a fraction of that now remains - I've become a dinosaur - If a major guitar store asked me to set-up, open and run a new shop, I know it would be a walk in the park as I've done it on many occasions - Ask me to turn a regular shop into a store like Anderton's that runs all the digital channels you mention then I'm near the bottom of the list as to who you should hire

Touching on the above, a friend of mine retired around 10 years ago as an agent who supplied many music shops in the UK with various goods etc - In that time all his accounts have now closed - I was the last one left - All his accounts were the small independents 

guitars4you

merlin said:

Good luck with the future Mark. It sounds to me that you will be enjoying a better quality of life in many ways. All the best. 

Hope so - Will be interesting to find if I do end up with much spare time - But have a few plans etc - Thanks

ICBM

guitars4you said:

Touching on the above, a friend of mine retired around 10 years ago as an agent who supplied many music shops in the UK with various goods etc - In that time all his accounts have now closed - I was the last one left - All his accounts were the small independents 

As you will know I work for a small independent shop in Glasgow which specialises in repairs, second hand and vintage - we already stock virtually no new stuff at all other than picks, cables, straps and strings etc... and the demand for even those is drastically down due to the online market. I can see a time when it’s not really economic to do any real quantities even of those - long-term survival is purely dependent on repairs, and commission sales for people who don’t want the hassle of selling privately, and even that is difficult due to the insurance problems of sending by courier when we don’t actually own the guitar - we’ve had a couple of big losses that way.

IvisonGuitars

Sad to hear this Mark but you know when the time is right, you’ve be been a major support to me (and many others) at the guitar shows so thank you for that, good to hear you’ll be in attendance for a little while yet though! 

Whitecat

Best of luck Mark. You’re a good guy who has probably forgotten more about guitars in general than I’ll ever know and have been absolutely excellent to buy from. Glad to know you’ll still be kicking around - but the guitar retail scene in the UK will still be a little worse off from the change of pace. All the best!

axisus

Sorry to hear that the shop is going. It was a very long drive for me but I did come up once many years ago to buy a superb PRS guitar. All the best for the future!

PhilKing

guitars4you said:

PhilKing said:

Good luck with your future endeavors.  I know what you mean about the shows being fun.  If I ever make them in when I'm back, I'll try to look you up. In the past I've always ran into someone I knew (or sometimes who knew me!).

Spoke to Dixie the other day and he sends his regards - He is keeping okay

Thanks for the message - Best wishes Mark

Guitar shows are how I ran into Dixie again.  Glad to hear he's still doing OK.  Give him my best.

I usually come over in May-June to have a bit of a trip around England.  I'll keep an eye out for any shows going on then and try to see if I can travel at that time.

RandallFlagg

Best of luck Mark, I look forward to continue reading your posts in the cricket thread and sharing some banter on England's ups and downs. Keep on keepin' on mate.

Gary

Kebabkid

All the best Mark