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More than 88,000 people packed the Anaheim Convention Center during NAMM in January, again a record. The final exhibitor figure was 1,560, also a record. Considering the attendance pace, The NAMM Show could topple the magic 100,000 mark next decade. And shortly after, we may even say more people fill The NAMM Show than those who cram into Ann Arbor, Mich., for an Ohio State-Michigan battle. With another record-breaking performance behind us, all eyes will be on Nashville in June for Summer NAMM.
But getting back to January’s show, things got moving quickly with Thursday morning’s breakfast session, when NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond polled key figures to get an outlook on the rest of the year. “We’re cautiously optimistic,” said Bill Mendello, CEO of Fender. “I’m an optimist by nature. It’s very possible a recession is coming. But we had a good January…and we’re gearing up for a strong year. I don’t see double-digit growth, but I see a continuation.”
“We’re optimistic as well,” added Ed Miller, president of Kaman. “Many of our customers didn’t have a dynamic Christmas. I think it was much better than the past couple of years. The inventory levels, in my perspective, are in better shape than the year before. Our January started out fairly strong as well.”
Mendello and Miller discussed their merger, one of the biggest news stories of 2007. “Kaman is a great company,” said Mendello. “There’s no question about it. It’s important to note there were no problems with Kaman. We have a lot of things in common. Our cultures are similar. Our histories are similar. We have the same thought process and approach dealers in the same way. But to me, the biggest overriding factor is the brands and our businesses are really complementary. We’re very strong in electric guitars and basses. They’re very strong with accessories and percussion, areas that are a natural progression for us.
“How we approach our dealer network will stay the same,” he added. “Their salesforce will remain theirs and ours will remain ours. It’s not broken at Kaman and we’re not trying to fix it. One change you’ll see is [Kaman’s] fill rate is at 95 percent. Ours is nowhere near that. Our goal is to get there.”
 During the same session, Skip Maggiora, owner of Skip’s Music, added a few tips for retailers. “The challenges are there. Look for the opportunities. That’s what we’ve always done. Keep your eyes open in your community. We do repairs. We do lessons. We do all of the things common in a music store. But we take it to another level. Our service department doesn’t just fix amplifiers and guitars anymore. We fix the audio needs for the federal courthouse and the prison system.”
Friday morning’s breakfast session about time and money brought plenty of ideas. Myrna Sislen, owner of Washington D.C.’s Middle C Music, can always be counted on for honesty. She even joked that despite a $251,000 loss the store had to absorb during a four-year period before she took over the business, “the money is not exactly coming in buckets, but close. I’m making money. Ladies and gentleman, we are retailers, we need money, and we need it every day.”
So how is Sislen bringing in the cash? “Guilt,” she said. “I tell them, ‘If you want me to be here, you need to shop here.’ It works. You have to do other things as well [of course]. But I don’t hesitate to say the words to the customers. ‘If you want me to be here, shop here.’ Beyond that, one of the things small guys can do that big guys can’t is a strong involvement in the community. Advertise in every single elementary school directory. Every middle school directory. Every elementary, middle, and high school program for their concerts and musicals. Have local involvements. In Washington D.C., the Smithsonian Institution was going to close its Jazz Café, a stupid, stupid idea. So I wanted to do what we could to keep it open. So we had a petition and it was on the radio that if you wanted to sign a petition, come to Middle C Music. I got a thousand signatures on petitions to keep the café open. It is now open.”
Added Sislen: “I had another idea for a ukulele orchestra. It got people talking about Middle C. I don’t advertise in the Washington Post.”
Jen Lowe, president of online retailer BoomBoom Percussion, said reading a book called The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell (Little Brown, 2000) attracted customers to her site. “It shows you how to create a good epidemic and create a community,” she said. “Eventually, people will start talking about it and your store will ‘tip’ in a good way.”
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