Shopping in a "Real" Drum Shop

[DrummBumm89]

Our experiences there couldn’t have been different….

I'm with the Hound here. It's also a very relaxed shop to begin with where they aren't up your ass, much different from many of the boutique shops.
Stan, Jerry and Mike(?) have all been absolutely great to me. I've gotten a cheap shirt at one point and a great deal on some Sakae hardware. Their Istanbul cymbal prices were fair as were their Sabian Prototypes when I've inquired.

 

[Matched Gripper]

I live in a fairly sizeable market (Tampa Bay...which includes Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Sarasota) but there are no large drum shops in our area. We have a Guitar Center and a Sam Ash Music Store but the drum departments are not stocked very well especially for Paiste cymbals and boutique brands. Really everything.

I am on a long weekend vacation in Memphis and have been super excited about visiting Memphis Drum Shop. I'd been planning on trying out cymbals and looking at the Yamaha Crosstown and new Rogers hardware. I also really wanted to try some new bass drum pedals. As well as look at their amazing vintage drum collection.

I arrived to the shop at 10:45 this morning and made an initial introduction with an associate and someone I was told later is the owner. I told them I was getting bored with my cymbals and and was curious to hear Instanbuls in person, as no store near me stocks them. I've been a Paiste player for decades and the owner was probably wise to tell me if I like and play Paiste, Istanbuls are probably not for me (I play rock). So I started inquiring about pedals. They had a few set up on a rubber board but never offered to let me try one on a bass drum. They did let me try a snare. After about an hour in the store I pretty much got run out of there. I was flabbergasted! Is this the way it is in drum shops these days?!?! I wanted to stay longer. I didn't even get to look at swag.

I really liked a used Oriollo snare I tried out but they were asking $450 (I think) for the drum. I don't know about the rest of you, but I need to think about a $450 purchase. I just don't jump on it. So I walked away and started tapping on some cymbals in the vault. I fell in love with a 17" Paiste dark energy crash as well as a 16" Signature. Again, +$400 and +$300 prices. They also had a used Sonor Perfect Balance Standard pedal sitting out attached to a box that I checked out. The Standard Perfect Balance pedal has been on my list of pedals to try out.

It takes time to look at snares, cymbals and pedals...and gawk at the vintage museum pieces they have. I'm so disappointed that what started as such an exciting and fun day turned so quickly. I wasn't done looking and had more questions. I certainly feel like I could have been tempted to buy a bigger ticket item. We flew to Memphis so transporting stuff back was a consideration, especially the snares. I asked about cases and was given a full retail quote. I asked about shipping and it got weird, the associate sait "well I'm sure you can bring a cymbal on the plane". C'mon. No used snare case (or new for that matter) you could make a deal on? Or offer shipping? Am I that out of touch with the way the world works now? The associate eventually said to me, "what's it going to be? Do you want that snare?". I told him I wanted the used Sonor pedal, which was $150. And then I was shown the door. Almost the entire time the guy was shadowing me. He left briefly a few times, but he was "on" me. In all fairness, he did let me spend time putting a stick on cymbals.

In the end I was at least able to see the Crosstown hardware in person and feel just how light it is. The new Rogers hardware looks awesome but is still heavier than the Crosstown stuff. I know I also like the sound of an Oriollo snare. Unfortunately the clerk didn't know the shell material, it was very light so I assume aluminum (it had a crazy color pattern). And I got a pedal I was curious about.

I had a great first few minutes talking music and drum styles with the associate, but something changed quickly. Did the owner tell him to get rid of me? Is this the way it is in all the well-known major drum shops? Sorry for the long rant, I'm just so disappointed.

If I may ask, what do you mean when you say you were run out of there, and that you were shown the door? Can you specify what you mean?

 

[mebeatee]

Y’all have missed the point....
You...OP....said you tried out a bunch of stuff....did some drum rolls and nifty cymbal patterns?
There ya go....either you were so laughingly bad...or worse...played all ten taboo drum licks (didn’t see the list?) so they couldn’t take it anymore OR your playing in the store...ie chops et al...was sooooo friggen amazing they were intimidated and couldn’t take it anymore.....
Besides I’ve had good and bad experiences at the grocery store....
bt

 

[Steve OnmywaytoLA]

So you wanted to "try out" cymbals, "look" at hardware, "try" new bass drum pedals and "look" at vintage drums.
Speaking from a lifetime of retail management/sales you are a totally qualified looker not a buyer. In this day and age if you have a brick and mortar store the majority of walk-ins are touching and feeling your merchandise and then buying on line (and not necessarily from your website.) The salesperson could certainly have handled his interaction with you with much more finesse and there are much better ways to ask "Is you is or is you ain't" then the way he asked for the sale but I can totally relate to the motivation of his actions.
Having said that, I can appreciate your disappointment in your experience there. The whole episode was handled very poorly.
Unlike a place like @Murat "Drummers Hangout" which obviously encourages "Hanging Out"-(Good on him!),
the reality is that this particular establishment is a big dollar, big inventory, big overhead company (not to say that Murat's business is anything to sneeze at, but you know what I mean). Their margins are much better on line and if someone comes in the store and engages a salesperson they are very strongly encouraged to buy something and not spin any ones wheels. I have found that I am welcomed in establishments of this type if I make it very clear initially that I am just looking around and will ask for the salespersons time when I am ready to make a purchase. This tends to make the salesperson relatively attentive if there is not another sales opportunity in the store and works out well.
Just my thoughts from the other end of the spectrum.
Marty




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I used to be an Apple computer store manager (pre Apple store) many years ago when that was a novelty and we struggled with the same issues. It's an interesting problem because as a destination retail store, you have nice, well intentioned people coming to see your shop with high expectations and yet, you're not a museum! You're not collecting an entrance fee even though you may be a drummer's Disneyland. You have money tied up in inventory, bills to pay, and need to sell them something to stay in business. It then becomes a dance of having a relatively low paid retail sales person not angering the customer while trying to keep the lights on. It's a recipe for interactions often not going well like this. I wish I had an answer but...

 

[Murat]

Boy I could write pages on this topic but it is not about me so I won't . How i do things is totally "wrong" as far as how you run a business anyways ! I mean, who dedicates valuable floor space to a sitting area with a fridge and coffee maker and a tv for customers to sit and watch drum videos or shoot the breeze? Or have an area where they can play mini basketball while waiting for me to help them personally LOL. This is a 3000 square foot place on the most famous street in all of Canada full of high end gear by the way. I wanted to create the old barbershop environment. Some people stay for 6 hours . All good.
All i can say is, there are a million things we cannot control in this business. In fact, almost everything is out of our control, like prices, inflation, pandemics etc...I am sure everyone is trying their best. One thing we can 100% control though is how we treat people.

 

[Lamontsdad]

Boy I could write pages on this topic but it is not about me so I won't . How i do things is totally "wrong" as far as how you run a business anyways ! I mean, who dedicates valuable floor space to a sitting area with a fridge and coffee maker and a tv for customers to sit and watch drum videos or shoot the breeze? Or have an area where they can play mini basketball while waiting for me to help them personally LOL. I wanted to create the old barbershop environment. Some people stay for 6 hours . All good.
All i can say is, there are a million things we cannot control in this business. In fact, almost everything is out of our control, like prices, inflation, pandemics etc...I am sure everyone is trying their best. One thing we can 100% control though is how we treat people.

I need to make a trip!

 

[ludwigmod72]

I’m in agreement with the majority on this. Really great responses on here. I feel for the OP but unfortunately in this day and age it’s “Put your money where your mouth is”. A high end business carrying expensive overhead doesn’t have time for the “Tire Kicker or Haggler” who has no intention to throw down serious coin on a purchase. I imagined they figured it out after a few minutes that he was there to tinker. Hence the reason why he was shown the door. By no means is it the OP’s fault, but spending 150 is probably pocket change to the shop. Good for the local GC but not for a Mercedes Dealership.

 

[red66charger]

Boy I could write pages on this topic but it is not about me so I won't . How i do things is totally "wrong" as far as how you run a business anyways ! I mean, who dedicates valuable floor space to a sitting area with a fridge and coffee maker and a tv for customers to sit and watch drum videos or shoot the breeze? Or have an area where they can play mini basketball while waiting for me to help them personally LOL. I wanted to create the old barbershop environment. Some people stay for 6 hours . All good.
All i can say is, there are a million things we cannot control in this business. In fact, almost everything is out of our control, like prices, inflation, pandemics etc...I am sure everyone is trying their best. One thing we can 100% control though is how we treat people.

Definitely sounds like a place I'd want to go to, over and over again. Seems to me you're doing it totally "right".

 

[Lamontsdad]

When you have a shop where people could easily plunk down several hundred or thousand dollars, it shouldn't be a pressured experience, especially on items that nobody really needs. I can see someone being shown the door if the shop is super busy; unless I am not reading correctly, it sounded like the sales person couldn't wait to get back to his sudoku, cross word puzzle, porn on his phone or whatever. And he sold a used item! Used always has a higher profit margin. D*** move on his part. It wasn't like @red66charger wasn't going to buy something. As much as I like mycymbal.com, I am not going to buy from these people any longer.

 

[red66charger]

I’m in agreement with the majority on this. Really great responses on here. I feel for the OP but unfortunately in this day and age it’s “Put your money where your mouth is”. A high end business carrying expensive overhead doesn’t have time for the “Tire Kicker or Haggler” who has no intention to throw down serious coin on a purchase. I imagined they figured it out after a few minutes that he was there to tinker. Hence the reason why he was shown the door. By no means is it the OP’s fault, but spending 150 is probably pocket change to the shop. Good for the local GC but not for a Mercedes Dealership.

But I wasn't there to tinker. I wasn't even given the chance to try out a +$400 bass drum pedal on an actual bass drum sitting in an actual thrown. If I wanted to buy a bass pedal without trying it, I could do that online.

I went to the store with three primary objectives:

1. Try out bass drum pedals that aren't stocked in my local stores and potentially purchase one if I found one I liked.

2. Listen to Istanbul Agop and Xsist cymbals which no store around me stocks. I did not have to play them.myself, I'd actually prefer the store associate to play them so I could hear it better. I DO NOT GO TO MUSIC STORES TO TINKER, OR SHOW OFF CHOPS. I can't say that enough.

3. Check out the lightweight Yamaha hardware and new Rogers hardware. I wanted to try the Yamaha hi hat stand with cymbals because I read the tension is not adjustable. I wanted to see if it was tolerable as is. If all the items I was interested in purchasing, the Crosstown pack plus another cymbal stand was going to be my most likely purchase. I asked about shipping (since I flew into Memphis). The sales associate was not offering shipping. If I order online from MDS, don't they ship? It really surprised me.

I just happened to see the Oriollo snare and wanted to hear it. I even asked the associate if he would play it so I could hear it. I NEVER TINKER OR SHOW OFF CHOPS IN A MUSIC STORE. I loved the sound of the snare. I sat behind it for an entire 60 seconds or so in a room alone withe the associate. The door was closed. No one else in the store was bothered. There were dozens of snares I would have loved to have heard. I only asked to hear one. One drum. I never struck another drumming that store. I wanted to think about it so I moved on to cymbals.

I still don't see what I did wrong. I bought the Perfect Balance pedal (untested) and was prepared to buy the hardware pack. I'll do all my shopping online going forward. Good grief, I had no idea how horrible it is for stores to have to deal with customers.

 

[idrum4fun]

I've been a steady customer at Pro Drum Shop since 1968. If you had a question or wanted some help with something all you had to do was walk to the counter, wait until Stan or Jerry was free and ask them for help.* If you simply walk in and browse for a half hour they'll give you the space to do that without making you feel pressured to buy something. And if you hang out at the counter and listen to those stories you'll come away with at least one great story you yourself can pass on to other drummers.

As for their prices, I've spent well into five figures there over the past few years; never paid less than 30% off retail for anything.

*One time when I was there buying cymbals I had chosen a couple of A crashes and a pair of K Light hats. When I told Stan I was ready for him to write it all up he said "Before you buy those K Lights, why don't you try these K Sweets we just got in." A minute after trying them I swapped the K Lights for the K Sweets and have been in love with them ever since. Stan and Jerry know their sh*t, all you have to do is ask them.

I, too, have been a good customer of Pro Drum Shop for decades! I can attest to exactly what hsosdrum says about the store employees and owners. They will NEVER shadow you! Have a question? Just ask and they are happy to help out. I find their prices to be very fair. I've purchased custom snare drums from them in the past, with a beautiful Gaai snare as an example. I was very surprised at the deal they offered me! BTW, I've never even played this beautiful looking snare drum. I purchased it for my girlfriend to be "eye candy" and to add to other snare drums she has on display in her bedroom! I've spent quite a bit of snare drum dollars over the years for my GF, never, ever, regretting the purchase!

-Mark

 

[DrumPhil]

The one thing I will say is don’t let a bad experience at one shop lead you to believe that they are all like that. Over the years, I have had great experiences at Rupp’s in Denver, Explorers in KC, Fork’s in Nashville, and Drum Headquarters in St. Louis. There is always the possibility that you hit a salesperson having a bad day, or that everyone was tired from yesterday’s big-name clinic they hosted, or whatever. Regardless, you had a bad experience and MDS clearly lost any future business from you. That’s their loss. But don’t generalize that across all drum shops. Each has its own vibe and approach to training their staff.

 

[Steech]

I need to make a trip!

Yeah same here!

 

[Steech]

I’m in agreement with the majority on this. Really great responses on here. I feel for the OP but unfortunately in this day and age it’s “Put your money where your mouth is”. A high end business carrying expensive overhead doesn’t have time for the “Tire Kicker or Haggler” who has no intention to throw down serious coin on a purchase. I imagined they figured it out after a few minutes that he was there to tinker. Hence the reason why he was shown the door. By no means is it the OP’s fault, but spending 150 is probably pocket change to the shop. Good for the local GC but not for a Mercedes Dealership.

Seems like you missed the point.

 

[Houndog]

Y’all have missed the point....
You...OP....said you tried out a bunch of stuff....did some drum rolls and nifty cymbal patterns?
There ya go....either you were so laughingly bad...or worse...played all ten taboo drum licks (didn’t see the list?) so they couldn’t take it anymore OR your playing in the store...ie chops et al...was sooooo friggen amazing they were intimidated and couldn’t take it anymore.....
Besides I’ve had good and bad experiences at the grocery store....
bt

Yeah , the grocery store ; that’s just like going to a music store !!!!
“ they got mad when I tried the produce !!”

 

[INeedDrumLessons]

I knew after I read the OP that there was going to be a bunch of people telling him he was totally in the wrong and it was entirely his fault because, well it’s the internet. You all did not disappoint me.

FYI, I play rock and use Agops, as do many of my favorite drummers. That dude didn’t know what he was talking about.

 

[Steech]

I knew after I read the OP that there was going to be a bunch of people telling him he was totally in the wrong and it was entirely his fault because, well it’s the internet. You all did not disappoint me.

FYI, I play rock and use Agops, as do many of my favorite drummers. That dude didn’t know what he was talking about.

Yeah I play mostly rock and louder stuff and have 3-4 Agop Xists set up on my kit.

 

[Steech]

Y’all have missed the point....
You...OP....said you tried out a bunch of stuff....did some drum rolls and nifty cymbal patterns?
There ya go....either you were so laughingly bad...or worse...played all ten taboo drum licks (didn’t see the list?) so they couldn’t take it anymore OR your playing in the store...ie chops et al...was sooooo friggen amazing they were intimidated and couldn’t take it anymore.....
Besides I’ve had good and bad experiences at the grocery store....
bt

Hahahaha. Wow. And you are saying that other folks here have missed the point. Amazing.

 

[shuffle]

Reminds me of Quigleys Music in KC.
Art Jahleff was the owner and you couldn't touch anything until you showed him actual money,the, he'd allow you to pick a guitar off the wall or a drum off the shelf,ONLY if you showed you had the bucks.
Went there a few times but got tired of his attitude

 

[Lamontsdad]

Reminds me of Quigleys Music in KC.
Art Jahleff was the owner and you couldn't touch anything until you showed him actual money,the, he'd allow you to pick a guitar off the wall or a drum off the shelf,ONLY if you showed you had the bucks.
Went there a few times but got tired of his attitude

Again- a store that is literally selling something that 75% of the population doesn't even need should be a bit more accommodating. Unless you're a pro, nobody needs ANY of this stuff.