by Ryan Mazzocco » Wed Jul 11, 2018 11:58 pm
Well, things have been very slow in the construction field in our area, and work has been nearly non-existent so far this year. My guitar building business hasn't exactly taken off like I had hoped quite yet. Things have been quite scary so far this year, so I decided to try to find a way to supplement my income. A local music store was hiring for a part-time position, so I applied. After a nearly 4 week long application/interviewing process (they are quite thorough) I was offered the position. But there is a caveat: In the mean time a full time position had opened up which they were now offering me. Yada yada yada... I accepted the full time position. Now, this puts me in quite a position of responsibility as opposed to the part time, which was a lot of clean bathrooms, sweep floors, take out the trash, break down boxes, etc etc, and occasionally tune guitars and help customers. Now I will be responsible for all opening and closing duties, inspecting and setting up every fretted instrument in the store, sales, walk-in set ups and minor repairs, and pretty much running things on the Combo* side of the store, including all ordering and managing inventory.
I'm very excited about this new adventure but am also a little nervous since I've not really worked in a retail environment before. I would like to hear from some of the others who work or have worked in a music store and have done some of the things I will be doing. I'd be interested in hearing some tips that some may have, whether it be dealing with customers, products, vendors, or just whatever.
Also, Since I'll be setting up all the guitars is there anything I should know going into it about specific brands? We carry Gibson, Fender, Martin, PRS, Yamaha & Mazzocco (I don't have it all committed to memory, there are others I'm forgetting.) Are there common problems or other details to keep in mind with any of these specific brands since I'm going to be working on all of them regularly?
And yes I said "Mazzocco." I have a couple of my own guitars in there on consignment, probably a big part of how I won the job since they've already seen my work and know what I am capable of. But I was talking with the manager today and we got into a conversation about conflict of interests. (I brought it up because I want to show her that I plan to do everything on the up and up.) She was also a little concerned since we're in kind of uncharted waters for us at this point. She was going to discuss it with her superiors as well, but I thought I would pick the collective mind of the MIMF, I know some of you that work in guitar stores also show your instruments in said stores with the permission of the owners. Do you have any advice on how you make it work and don't create a conflict of interest?
I know that was a lot, and if you've made it this far, a most sincere thank you for taking the time and indulging me. I readily look forward to your comments and words of wisdom.
I learned that "Combo" means the side of the store dealing with guitars and other fretted instruments, amps, drums, audio, pedals, etc etc, and the "Band" side refers to more of the instruments for school and marching band, brass, woodwinds, etc etc....