Janet Davis Music Co. has gone out of business

[Tobin]

Just thought you all should be aware, in case you hadn't heard it elsewhere. It's been the buzz lately with banjo players. They have pretty much closed down, and are going out of business. Details are sketchy, but it does appear to be real.

https://www.facebook.com/JanetDavisAcousticMusic/

Formerly known as Janet Davis Acoustic Music, and more recently as JD Music Company (after Janet sold it to the current owners), it was a long-time source of lots of musical stuff. I had shopped there several times, though I was by no means a major customer. Weren't they a Cafe sponsor too? Anyway, their sales have been in decline for a number of years, and the current owners may not have pumped enough energy into it. I dunno. But for whatever reason, the doors are being shuttered, so to speak.

Their website still appears to be active: http://jdmc.com/ But I'm hearing that they have canceled lots of customer orders. If you're shopping around, you should definitely check with them before placing any orders. They *might* still be selling off things that they have in stock, but I really couldn't say. Check with them and verify.

Sad to see them go.

[JeffD]

Sad to see them go indeed.

[Caleb]

Bought a fiddle from them about 7 or 8 years ago. Great service. Sorry to see another American small business go.

[Folkmusician.com]

It really hurts to see so many of the long standing top shops disappear, often through no direct fault of their own.

[Chris Daniels]

Bought my Northfield from them less than 2 months ago. Got a personal note from Jake on the invoice about having enjoyed playing it while it was in shop. What a shame.

C.

[TEvans]

Ah man! This shop was a few miles from where I grew up. Good folks. That's too bad.

They just moved into a new shop just a few years ago.

[CES]

Sad to hear. Bought a banjo from them probably 13 years ago (geez, has it been that long???), and got great service/set up, prompt delivery, and a personalized note as well.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm sorry to hear that as well. I've purchased a few things from them over the years. A guitar, a Banjo and some cases and other hardware.

[Mandolin Cafe]

Fate is a hunter.

There were way too many problems with that business for far too many years. Everyone in the music industry knew about this. You can't manage an operation for that long with as many problems as they had and succeed in the long run. There were very good people there when the Cafe had a relationship with them, but even back then, probably 7-8 years ago we were telling them things had to change in order for them to succeed. Bad management and decision making ran them out of business, not politics, not amazon, etc. Owners that think the way to success is to keep applying the same failed policies year after year when they aren't working are destined to go out of business.

[AlanN]

I have loads of mandolin tabs from them, some obscure ones, even.

[Danny Deadstrings]

I tried to purchase a tone-gard, some Wegen picks, and J74s from them about a month ago. None of the items said they were out of stock but a day after I ordered they sent me an email stating they did not have any of the items. I hope the best for them though.

[timsound]

So what failed policies are you referring to? I have been in retail music for 37 years and I am thinking very hard about leaving this profession, though I have loved it for years and really can't imagine doing anything else. Between impossible buy ins for some lines and back door dealing on a few reps part, and of course the internet, it is near impossible to make a living at this.

[Luna Pick]

I appreciate the OP's letting us know about JDM. Like many on the board we too have been a customer of theirs for years and I've always appreciated their friendly communications and service.

I also appreciate the Cafe's giving us their perspective that there have been issues for years as a way to provide some context. That said, I don't think they need to provide further details or turn this thread into a different topic about business management and micro and macro economics, and a possible debate.

[banjoboy]

So sorry to hear that they are going out of business. I tried to call them to get info about mandolins earlier this week. I also emailed them. No response. I kind of wondered what was going on. I've purchased stuff from them throughout the years. Always good customer service. I purchased a Blueridge guitar from them last year. I received the guitar and it looked damaged. I sent it back and they replaced it. Sounded like they had some quality control issues. But they took good care of me, and they gave me a really good deal. They will be missed.

[Ivan Kelsall]

The Janet Davis Music Co. was my 'go to' store in the US for all things mandolin at one time. The only thing i have that wasn't bought from them is my First Quality 'American Vintage' mandolin case,which was a FQ 'special'. I'm truly sorry to hear that the store has closed. I had terrific service from them for several years,
Ivan

[Johnny60]

It's always sad to hear of a quality (both in terms of goods and service) music store closing its doors.

[Charlieshafer]

It's sad, but I also get the mismanagement part as the issue. For all those who claim the internet is killing things, or it's impossible to make a living anymore, need only look at all the great stores that are doing really well. It's true in any industry, where older and usually original owner/managers either are unable to change with the times, or simply don't want to bother. They don't spectacularly implode, they just fade away. It's a bummer, but it's also life in business.

[Mike Snyder]

They had some really nice mandolins come through there. One Sam Bush was truly memorable. A couple of Webers and a new F10, too. Local to me, they will be missed. The techs and showroom folks were friendly and knowledgeable. It leaves a hole in retail sales of acoustic stuff in my area. Lawrence, Ks and Lebanon, Mo are long day trips from here.

[allenhopkins]

Don't some of these businesses decline when the founders retire or pass on, and the new owners don't have the same abilities, reputations, whatever, that the originators did? Stan Jay at Mandolin Brothers, Harry West -- I'm sure there are others who don't come to mind. I think of Sandy's Music in Cambridge MA, chaotic little shop that closed down when Sandy Sheehan became too ill to run it.

Will we have Gruhn Guitars without George Gruhn, Music Emporium without Stu Cohen, Elderly without Stan Werbin, Lark Street without Buzzy Levine, Vintage Instruments without Fred Oster? Locally, Bernuzio's without John, Stutzman's without Dave? Nothing lasts forever, we're all mortal, and not every business has an inheritor that can keep up standards and take it into the "next generation."

The instrument-dealer business is a tough one these days, especially if competing with the internet more than using it. There are mega-dealers like Musician's Friend that are consistently going to give bigger discounts, so a smaller dealer is going to have to provide something extra, something different -- expertise, personal service, unique products, used/vintage inventory, trades, repairs, whatever. And in a smaller-sale industry like musical instruments, the influence of a single person over a single company can be huge; look at the effect Juskiewicz has had on Gibson, e.g.

Apparently Janet Davis Music without Janet Davis didn't work out. Hope that's not the paradigm for all the firms we like to deal with.

[karlmando]

Sad to see business of all kinds fall. Anyone in any business these days needs to have a spectacular online presence, or be developing one fast if they are behind. Great pics, great demo videos, great e-contact responses and courtesy, great shipping and return policies, honest user reviews... etc. These days you can get excellent products delivered quickly to your door for a good price. That's tough to compete with.

I live in a congested urban area and there is one small music shop with mid to low end stuff and one bigger shop with some high end stuff, and a guitar center about 40 minutes away that is OK. You can't find a mid level and up mandolin anywhere. You have some Taylors, Martins and Gibsons around for guitars, but at higher prices, and limited selection.

If I want choice I have to go online, which I have done with only great results (new and used) over the last several years. It's a competitive market out there.

Sorry about JD Music. Less options is never good for us.

[TonyP]

Thanks to OP for this. I'm grateful to have a place like the Mandolin Cafe for everything that's going on in the music world from folks who pass to dealers having trouble or going under.

There are so many reasons for things failing it's hard to know. But I knew things were not looking so good with JDM when the purchaser and accountant I'd been dealing with for years all the sudden disappeared.

And then the constant change of names and finding out the accountant is now a temp.

It does seem like it's pretty much a done deal when the main owner is out of the picture. But I know for a fact they didn't do it alone, so all I can think is the folks who take over cant afford those that used to be pivotal or they didn't get along. Sad. And I agree, there's no reason a good store can't have a presence on the net and brick and mortar. Business is tough, period. A LOT of work and it takes a lot of dedication and sometimes the lack of a "life".

It is sad that folks knew they needed to change and they didn't.

[Loudloar]

Will we have Gruhn Guitars without George Gruhn, Music Emporium without Stu Cohen, Elderly without Stan Werbin, Lark Street without Buzzy Levine, Vintage Instruments without Fred Oster? Locally, Bernuzio's without John, Stutzman's without Dave? Nothing lasts forever, we're all mortal, and not every business has an inheritor that can keep up standards and take it into the "next generation."

It's very very true. I researched the history of the major American instrument case companies and most of them failed because of the loss of the founder or primary leader.

Companies who survive the loss of a key figure do so because they have a succession plan and work hard to prepare the next generation. I've talked with some of the people you mention in your statement and they are working at a succession plan. I can't speak for all of them.

Steve
http://www.stevekirtley.org/vintagecases.htm

[Ivan Kelsall]

Ok - Here's a pretty naive question. Who are the ''internet'' demons who seem to be responsible for the closure of almost everything these days ?. I buy over the internet a lot,but,i buy (used to buy) from music stores ie. Janet Davis for one. I stopped buying from JD when the US postage went up by so much that i had to begin paying import tax on my string sets etc. These days i buy from 'different' music stores on line,but they're still music stores with real,live folk running them !. Almost all music stores sell on the 'net these days,it's part of the modern way of selling. It allows them to sell to customers who couldn't ever visit them,so one would think that selling on the 'net was a + point ??.

I'm possibly missing something here,so feel free to edificate me (again). I might be 72 years of age,but i realised a while back,i don't know everything !!,
Ivan

[Charlieshafer]

Ivan makes a very good point. The internet is open to everybody, and ignoring it is just sticking your head in the sand. There's a very interesting business corollary here. Sears is complaining that Amazon has stolen their sales, and hurt their business, but it's a pretty odd comment, showing the sort of boneheaded logic. The internet is essentially a great big catalog, and who else but Sears ruled the catalog sales world in the first half of last century? You could buy inexpensive guitars or mandolins, appliances, and even houses. All delivered right to your door, and a great price! Wow, who could conceive of such a thing? All that happened was that Sears vacated catalogue sales in an attempt to be more suburban modern, opened up thousands of big box stores, and eventually fell to the sheer volume of retail outlets and increased costs of physical buildings. Amazon merely took over the gap that Sears abandoned.

Instrument stores are quite similar in that while some may fail due to ownership changes or poor management, the good ones adapt and change. There's an interesting parallel thread (though it may not seem that way from the title) about the value of Loars in today's climate. Essentially, the concern was that 10 years ago, if you saw one on the market, you had to snap it up at north of 200k. Now, here are 11 on the market, sitting there, at between 80-180k, depending on condition.

The bigger issue for music stores is not how to carry on after a founder lets go, as in a healthy market segment there will always be new entrepreneurs ready to step in and fill the gap. It's more a question of whether or not today's younger players are totally infatuated with the need to spend lots of money on instruments. Is the luxury instrument a baby boomer thing?

It's very possible, that for really nice instruments, you will be down to perhaps 10 stores nationally, as that's all the market needs. The cheaper ones can be easily filled by the Guitar Centers of the world, and the middle will be the segment that suffers. Those mid-range instruments are tough for the box stores to sell, yet not quite profitable enough or sold in enough volume to keep anything but a "hobby business" going. For example, a retired guy who wants to keep busy, but doesn't need to make a lot of money.

Another interesting parallel is a small boutique imported ceramics store in the area is closing down after 30 years. While they had mentioned the strong dollar, they were also quick to point out that they'd been through that before. The bigger issue was that their bridal registry had dropped through the floor, as young couples didn't want "stuff." The other issue at work: having been there for 30 years, the area was pretty much saturated with ceramics. The locals just didn't want anymore of it.

Anyway, the internet isn't the problem, it's just too many retail outlets, a younger generation that's less obsessed with buying lots of stuff, and in some cases, mismanagement. There's always enough business for the good guys, though, but without the internet, you're dead.

[Tobin]

Ok - Here's a pretty naive question. Who are the ''internet'' demons who seem to be responsible for the closure of almost everything these days ?. ... These days i buy from 'different' music stores on line,but they're still music stores with real,live folk running them !. Almost all music stores sell on the 'net these days,it's part of the modern way of selling. It allows them to sell to customers who couldn't ever visit them,so one would think that selling on the 'net was a + point ??.

I won't pretend to know the complete answer to this, but I think the major factor is that these brick & mortar stores that have tried to compete online are losing out to internet-only sellers who don't have the overhead of an actual store.

A place like Janet Davis has to pay rent, utilities, insurance, pay workers to stand behind the counter, and all the other costs associated with an actual business store front. Internet wholesalers don't have this. Their overhead costs are limited only to what it takes to receive, temporarily warehouse, and process/ship the instruments to online buyers. In many cases, they don't even have a business phone; they only operate by email. Heck, some of them don't even have to pay for a website. They do all their selling via eBay or Amazon. And while there are costs associated with using these online services, they are much, much less than an actual music store who is trying to sell online.