Feedback Wanted: Dedicated Vinyl Store

[kaiseraramis]

I completely agree but this may not be possible. I run another full time business that provides me with my 'actual' income. I was thinking I'd probably be there on the weekends. Half the day on Saturday and most of the day on Sunday.

I need all the help I can so please send me your contact number and I will get a hold of you whenever I can.

 

[entsurgeon]

hey kaiser, you are taking twofold weight on you shoulders- promoting vinyls and promoting music sales. these days, the onslaught of fm stations and music on net means buying a little older music has reduced to near null.
if u want to enlarge your canvas regard used indian vinyls, you can go for a franchise route . means if possible start not with a single store but a chain... to begin with, join hands with similarly inclined people in delhi, calcutta, madras and hyd/bangalore. these franchise stores may not share incomes and liabilities among em and run as independent entities but they will ensure that your venture is physically present in all corners of country catering to different languages and tastes from 4 corners of nation. also giving you publicity much more than a single store generates.that may leverage your brand value in that you can manage the old vinyl collections from any part of india. as about the list of genres above, #2#3#4 are all out of production now and used route is your only salvage.
but promoting vinyls in india right now means you have to evoke nostalgia in some fellas(these guys just need a right place to shop to revive their old habit of listening to vinyl) and convince the newer breed that this is too good a medium and should be taken to.
regarding having tts and ancillaries i d suggest, the entry costs for vinyl world for a newbie should be watched for keenly as expensive products tend to move off the shelf slower.
by the way, anybody can guess the current vinyl sales figures here?? how much lps of jhootha hi sahi and tees maar khan were pressed and how many of them saw the needle of a cart??
that will help us project the size of current market of vinyls for our store.
by the way kaiser... i suggest u talk to owners of hifivision.com if you can somehow encoporate the name of hifivision in your brand, as also plan a discount scheme for hfv members.that could be a co-promotion for both you and the site.
further if you can lay your hands on any vintage dj gear for pittance that used vinyls as its source, it would be a good point of attraction in the store.
also i totally with the genres listed above in similar order, though i d like to add 80s and 90s pop titles to the list.
best wishes. go ahead.

 

[kaiseraramis]

entsurgeon thanks for the feedback.

I'm not expecting to mint money with this, if it doesn't work out I will have a great record collection!!!

On a more serious note, I think it can be a success. It will not be easy but it can be done. The Vinyl industry is actually starting to pickup again. In India for example the industry is 1% of a total 750 Crore and it expected to grow 2% - 3% every year. EMI and Sony are getting back in to Vinyl and so I expect things to improve.

Call me a snob but places like Rhythm house and Landmark are in my opinion a joke. I want this store to be a sort of go to place for music lovers. Maybe I'm arrogant, maybe even crazy.

The major problem is that I already have a lot on my plate in terms of work and this will just be an added 'burden'.

 

[stevieboy]

Call me a snob but places like Rhythm house and Landmark are in my opinion a joke.

Hi kaiseraramis,

Just curious why you think Rhythm House is a joke. The place I remember from bout 5 years or so back had people who knew their music unlike the PlanetMs of the world who in my opinion/experience are mere retailers without any real knowledge of what they stock.

As far as your store goes, sounds good but you'd need to have something worth coming for in terms of vinyl not available elsewhere or perhaps stuff you can only get abroad, offered here for some savings. Otherwise in my experience of buying stuff I've had far better and knowledgeable support from online stores abroad than from here in India, excepting Sushil Anand of Nova Audio who knows his vinyl. Match that with some sort of monetary savings benefit and I'm sure you'd have a good proposition going!

All the best!

Regards
steve

 

[kaiseraramis]

Thanks for the reply Steve.

I don't really have an issue with places like Rhythm House as such I just never find good music there. Granted they are a business and they need to pay bills but the collection they have is catered to 14 year old girls and 87 year old senile men, in my opinion. Maybe a little harsh but thats just they way I feel about it.

As for selling Vinyl here, obviously the goal is to get it to the customer for as cheap as possible. As for knowledge, I feel the question is a little subjective. Knowledge of how a turntable works etc or knowledge relating to music. In terms of music I can't offer much to be honest. I'm heavily into heavy metal and some classic rock. I know everything there is to know about the music I like but when it comes to Jazz, Hindi music etc I'm pretty much SOL.

The plan is to hire a person to be there the whole day sort of a peon I guess. In addition I will have friends there to help around whenever. I will be available on weekends and whenever else is possible.

 

[denom]

I'm heavily into heavy metal and some classic rock.

:clapping::yahoo::clapping:

Will be visiting your shop now for sure

 

[Hiten]

the collection they have is catered to 14 year old girls and 87 year old senile men,

If one is promoting the medium (Vinyl) why should age, gender and musical preferences matter ?
regds.

 

[kaiseraramis]

I think you may have misinterpreted what I meant. I don't have an issue with different kinds of people liking and needing different kinds of music. However as a 22 year old, with a different choice in music, I find that they rarely have the music I would like. In addition they had the audacity to tell me to listen to "more conventional music".

That being said, I do have a small issue with 'artists' such as justin bieber and nickelback who are in my opinion a disgrace to the music community. But thats just my two cents.

 

[asliarun]

Thanks for the reply Steve.

I don't really have an issue with places like Rhythm House as such I just never find good music there. Granted they are a business and they need to pay bills but the collection they have is catered to 14 year old girls and 87 year old senile men, in my opinion. Maybe a little harsh but thats just they way I feel about it.

As for selling Vinyl here, obviously the goal is to get it to the customer for as cheap as possible. As for knowledge, I feel the question is a little subjective. Knowledge of how a turntable works etc or knowledge relating to music. In terms of music I can't offer much to be honest. I'm heavily into heavy metal and some classic rock. I know everything there is to know about the music I like but when it comes to Jazz, Hindi music etc I'm pretty much SOL.

The plan is to hire a person to be there the whole day sort of a peon I guess. In addition I will have friends there to help around whenever. I will be available on weekends and whenever else is possible.

If I can make a suggestion, have you considered making this a vinyl club instead of a store? A club is firstly closer to what you have in mind. The store can then be a front-end for your club. If executed well, a club will also give you a strong and extremely loyal member/customer base, and will probably give you much better return on your investment and effort, even if the return is not so much monetary but more in the form of satisfaction and making a bunch of friends.

You can also tweak the idea in many different ways based on what you want the club to stand for - first hand sale, second hand sale, vinyl exchange, sharing information, get-togethers, themes, promotions, make it a commercial, semi-commercial, or non-commercial club, live shows, promoting local bands and local manufacturers, to name a few ideas.

On a side-note, I feel that the one things Indian cities sorely lack (perhaps, with the exception of Calcutta, from what I have heard) is a good assortment of clubs. Online forums are only partially fulfilling this need, and I see tremendous potential for this idea in India.

 

[sarodiya]

Yes! One suggestion is (if you have the space) to regularly hold small in-store concerts. A lot of record stores in the U.S. and UK do this every once in a while, its a great idea. Helps promote the store/vinyl records and the underground music scene at the same time.

Unfortunately, there are no longer any vinyl pressing plants in India. I have heard some rumours of a few privately run pressings, but no actual evidence (I run a record label and would love to press vinyl, but the cost of pressing in other countries and shipping them to India is slightly prohibitive).

I was quite surprised (and somewhat glad) to see vinyl being sold in Landmark recently, however their selection was incredibly poor.

Regarding your position of not being able to pay employees: that spells immediate failure. If you want someone there who has a good knowledge of music and vinyl, then you want them there on a regular basis. As much as I or anyone else loves music, no one is going to work regularly for free unless they have a sufficient, steady income and lots of free time. Lots of us musicians/music lovers do not. I have seen this model tried back home in NY and they failed.

If you want any more advice regarding running a record store (it's not easy, and if you want it to succeed you can't do it casually), please contact me. I have a good friend who runs a record store back in NY, and I myself have worked there, as well as have many friends who work in record stores.

 

[deepakjeswal]

Great idea - when is the inauguration - I will be there ( Mahim or Bandra, both suit me fine!) to buy and you can sign me up as a regular.

The dearth is in good (even in used) old Hindi film music LP's - so I would always say please do keep a decent stock of them.

And yes, good staff is a must. It would be silly to have an LP store and ask for a, say Madan Mohan film, and the salesman looks at you with a 'Madan Mohan who?' kinda look ( that's what happens in most stores like Planet M).

 

[particleman]

@Kaiser,

Would you consider selling SACDs as well, in addition to vinyl? Sort of like acousticsounds.com who focus on audiophile pressings rather than the medium. DSD recordings are pretty hard to come by in India and I for one would be glad to find a source so close to home (I live not far from your intended venue).

All the best with your enterprise and hope it is a stunning success.

 

[kaiseraramis]

Particleman,

Haven't thought about SACDs but if there is a market for it we will definitely have no issue selling them.

 

[Listener]

Hi, has the store opened ? Can't wait to go there. Pls post the address.
btw , a few points I can think of :
1. You may try out a new and used section for LPs.
2. Pricing needs to be varied depending on LP quality for used LP
3. For new LP I suggest you try and import directly rather than from Indian importers since they will charge their margin over and above the import duties.
4. Unfortunately the duty structure is obscene for music goods. Some innovative methods need to be evolved by which you can get them to be competitive to what an individual can get from directly abroad. Else it will be like perfumes.
5. Half the audiophiles or budding ones are looking out for bargains or inexpensive ways to pursue their hobbies. Therefore even if you get used cartridges from abroad and sell in India it will be welcome.
6. See if it makes sense to run some services like record cleaning.
Regards listener

 

[gobble]

I would recommend you keep some space and gear for auditioning analog gear to compare with a CDP along with small knick knacks like cartridges and cleaning fluids.

 

[sughosh]

I'm with the "club rather than outright shop" suggestion. The market is still kinda small (though growing, from what I see around me and on this forum especially), and extremely scattered, so having one definitive place for vinyl junkies to meet, hang out, check out (and possibly fight over :lol stuff would be good (at least, way better than, say , meeting in the gully behind Razzakbhai's stall :lol.

Vinyl really needs more promotion, and I think having a decent "go-to" place in a city like Mumbai would help a lot.

And yes, stocking vinyl-related accessories, as well as new / well-refurbished (if possible) TTs is an absolute must

 

[kaiseraramis]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for the comments. Some small changes have been made to the proposed business model but the store is still going to happen. We expect the store to be setup bu the middle of this month so we can begin starting next month. Keep an eye on this thread for more updates.

 

[Hiten]

Kaiser, when you start I would be interested in following vinyls

1) Huey Lewis and the news - Sports
2) Talking Heads - Speaking in tongues
3) Yaz/Yazoo - Upstairs at Eric's
4) George Michael - Listen without prejudice
5) ZZ Top - Eliminator

Hiten

An update to be clear from my side. Have bought huey lewis, yaz, zztop, so are no longer required by me.
Thx.

 

[simadri_p]

It is a nice move and i wish the entrepreneur good luck.

 

[soulforged]

This discussion is over a year old...wonder if it did materialize...I sure hope it did