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| 来自科宾美国 Johnny Corbin的新年问候！ |
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| Since 2006 we have always put out a yearend recap and look ahead. So here we go.First I need to say how grateful I am thatwe have so many folks that have been on board with MDRG CORBIN since 2006. Yourcontinued support over the years and your friendship is what makes this worththe time, expense and effort to do. We have all seen the industry and the worldchange in ways we never imagined yet many of us are still here doing what welove, being involved with musicians, playing, teaching, installing, repairingand the creative side of operating a business.
2020 we all know it took a left turn. Umm..maybe a Freudian Slip there... In any caseit has been a challenging year and I am sorry to say things will not changedramatically on January 1st. My soft prediction is sometime around May we willstart to see some real relief from the Covid experience.
Mixed results:From an MI perspective 2020 was a greatyear for guitars and home recording gear and keyboards. Everyone knows thereasons, Stimulus money, stuck at home, time to take up a new hobby etc.. alldrove these sales.
Product shortages, which will continue alsoplayed a part. The real causality that I hear most often is the teaching studioand the loss of students and student traffic in the stores. That has a snowballeffect, loss of student revenue, loss of accessory and impulse sales that aregenerated from this., School Band and Band accessories are affected in the sameway. We saw a measurable drop in the sale of music stands, mic stands and speakerstands due to the cancellation of "events" where these types of itemsare used in this season. The reality is, it will come back. Like the stockmarket (which by the way makes no sense to me at the present) it can take a hitand within 11 months on average after a downturn it too begins to growagain..or so history shows. And our industry will do the same. |
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Supply Chain Disruption
The Asian factories were hit hard by Covid.and many did not reopen when they could reopen,The Chinese Government had alsojust gone through forcing many factories to relocate from the South to theNorth for multiple reasons I won't cover here. Many just walked away and thefactories that did move now need to go through the start up phase of new peoplenew location, training, new supply routines and new shipping and more costlyhandling of goods to get to the ports. Every brand from large to small that hadoperations in Asia were affected.
We also had the rosewood mess.. that wentaway only to be replaced with new Import regulations on many types of woodproducts we all use and not even the source understands their own regulationsand what is required.
Costs are always increased with moreregulation and the desired results are often not worth the cost.
Inflation is here.. and in a big way
Been to the grocery lately? How aboutdining out? ( Yes we still do that ) In some cases business is trying to makeup for the reduced revenue stream. Can't blame them.Our costs have risen dramatically. OceanFreight carriers pulled many ships off line during Covid as imports and exportswere so slow. Now things are coming back and the Ship Lines have learned how toput only the amount of ships on the water that they really need.. and areselling the space at a major premium.There is also a major shortage of emptycontainers due to imbalance of trade.
Same for the trains and some of the trucklines that transport goods once here. Add the additional tariffs (taxes) onmany of the Chinese goods and the cost of bringing in goods has increased 40%to as much as 50% not counting the annual factory increases of 5% and of courseour favorite UPS Annual increase of 5% prox.
These issue cross over all types ofproducts. Have you gotten a quote on any construction or remolding work??Materials are insanely high.
So where is the good news?
Let's start with many of us are still here.The tenacity and creative juices kicked in and people found alternate ways todo business, use their studios and increase their repair and install business.When things are more "normal" based on all the Keyboard, Uke andGuitar sales there will be a new crop of students, intermediate players andhobbyist that will need lessons, accessories and recording and sound gear. Ofcourse some things will not go back to the way they were. But history showsthat most things do given time. People are social beings and after working intheir home office all day, most will crave human interaction at the local pub,church or gathering place where entertainment will once again be a major factor. |
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We anticipate another wave of sales withthe new stimulus soon to hit. I won't get into the politics of it all, butthere will be many folks that will buy that guitar they want before they paythe rent. We saw this last time and it really drove sales of low to mid costkeyboard and stringed instruments. Folks that know me know I am a miser...but Ieven just purchased a new Stereo Receiver that I really did not need.. I didpay the rent first. LOL.
We too at Corbin made some updates to ourproducts. We had the choice to make our goods using lower cost materials tohold specific price points. ( Many have taken this road and we truly understandthat thinking) We instead upgraded our Corbin/Alba guitars with new styling,upgraded materials. We knew prices had to increase so instead of giving you adowngraded product at a higher cost, we produced a higher quality product at anincreased price but still offered a load of value for the cost. Our acousticand electric sales did amazingly well. If I had a crystal ball I could haveused 2 times the quantity we brought in for the Holiday Season.
We were very fortunate to get our productin on time. Many of our friends did not get shipped on time, some are stillwaiting. I do predict there will be some major sales (discounts) in January andFebruary as these companies will get their goods after the season and bemotivated to turn some of that inventory into cash quickly to pay off the highshipping bills and taxes..so that is a plus for the dealer looking to buyspecials.. although you might think they are not a deal due to the new pricingyou are all finding... but as I said 4 months before Christmas in mynewsletters, inventory is gold so if you see it, buy it from me, from them fromwhoever has it,
Most of all support your local business--especially if you want them to support your businessWe make an effort to visit the local diner,record store, smaller local shops.. The consolidation of the MI business is notreally a good thing. Convenience is good. Lack of choice is not good.
Enough is enough! Wishing all a GREAT 2021and Hope to hear from you any thoughts and suggestions on how to turn 2021 intoa positive. |
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Sincerely;
John& Anne Broermann
MusicDealers Resource Group LLC |
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