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Tom Dobrowolski Special user 656 Posts |
Hey Andi,
Hope you're doing well. With all your travels, etc. I'm sure you've visited a bunch of brick and mortar magic shops. So what/where are some of your favorite magic shops and why? What do you think makes a good brick and mortar shop? With you and Josh running Vanishing Magic Inc., what are your thoughts on the competition/impact of virtual only shops with/on brick and mortar shops? Thanks Andi-Tom |
AndiGladwin V.I.P. UK 587 Posts |
Hi Tom,
I remember where we first met … in a magic shop! In fact, that shop is at the top of my list of great shops. It’s Tim Felix’s Midwest Magic, which Tyler Wilson and I visited during our T&A Tour a few years ago. Other magic shops around the world that I like are International Magic in London, Magic Inc. in Chicago, H&R in Texas and US Toy in Kansas City. Both H&R and US Toy have such a large collection of old magic books that every time I’ve been to those shops, I’ve had to arrange to have boxes of books sent home for me as I bought so many I couldn’t carry them! It's a tough time for magic shops right now, but the blunt truth is that if they want to stay in business, they need to evolve. My background is in web hosting and online backup; two of the fastest moving online industries. When working in these industries, I used to spend at least an hour a day reviewing the changes in the industry; that’s how quickly it moved. Being agile and looking forward (whilst being fully aware of the industry’s history) is the only way to survive and magic shops need to do the same. Andrew Mayne wrote a very intelligent article on this subject and gave about a dozen alternative income streams for magic shops. Things like public shows, TV airings, open evenings, magic lessons and so on. It could work and it could work well. In fact, both Josh and I dream that one day we’ll be living in the same city so that we could open up a Vanishing Inc. brick and mortar shop; we have lots of ideas for how a physical shop and online shop could work together and stay profitable and fun. Moving on, what makes a great magic shop? I think that honesty, good customer service and careful consideration of what to stock are the most important things. Vanishing Inc. was inspired by the old-time magic shops with a guy behind a counter telling you about the great stuff, not just the new stuff. It's an unusual business model but it seems to work well! I hope that answers your question, Tom! And as you have worked in a magic shop, I’d love to know your thoughts on the subject; you're way more qualified than me! --Andi
View my Close-up Magician website or Vanishing Inc Magic
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Tom Dobrowolski Special user 656 Posts |
Hey Andi:
The T&A lecture was great. It was both a lot of fun and good magic. "Worked" in the shop is a fun phrase Tim and I banter about. I help him out behind the counter gratis when I can (mostly Saturdays and lectures) just to help keep the place afloat. I actually couldn't afford to work in the shop.... I would agree with virtually everything you said. Shops do need to evolve (particularly through alternative revenue streams) or die. I'd also offer the following observations. My experience has been people coming into the shop for that experienced knowledgeable recommendation and/ or demos then the person leaves and checks on line to get the best deal on the item. I understand trying to get the best deal you can but there's also value in getting the knowledge and advice. Let me say I do understand that there may be that deal just too good to pass up but come on to save just a couple of bucks? Most of these people don't realize at the end of the day they probably save money overall as they'll be steered away from wasting their money on a lot of the garbage put out. If I find out someone's been doing that I'm less apt to offer any real information to that customer. You may ask how I find out that’s what they have been doing. Many times it’s because the idiot comes back to the shop later and TELLS me how pleased they were that they were able to get it for $3 or $4 less at an on line magic retailer. Of course as downloads (videos, pdf's, etc.) continue to be more and more of the market there is actually even less and less of a need for physical inventory and hence less of a "need" for a shop. It's also tough for the brick and mortar shops to compete on price with online shops and/or manufacturers who also retail their products at prices that dealers could not even get buying wholesale. Frankly the bad economy hurts here in the U.S. A lot of our regular loyal customers still shop but spend less. I like to think it's just less disposable income and impulse buying and not because they are now buying from alternative sources to save a few bucks. I don't even want to open up the file sharing can of worms in this discussion either but it is an elephant in the room. At the end of the day it's a matter of both the magic shop owners and the customers adapting. It's a choice really. Do we want brick and mortar magic shops to be around anymore or not? It's up to each of us to decide. I for one hope to see them stick around for a while but the market will have the final say. |
Joshua Jay V.I.P. 196 Posts |
Hi Tom,
I'll add to the conversation--and I made sure Andi was okay with me piping in occasionally, as I don't wish to overstep my bounds. I think that for brick and mortar shops to survive, they must pinpoint the fundamental advantages and disadvantages. Disadvantages: you've already pointed them out. They can't reach as many people globally, they can't compete on price, lower overhead, and they can stock every product released without actually stocking it. Advantages: they have the potential to create a sense of community, and earn better loyalty to customers. They can demo tricks, which is infinitely better than web trailers. They can host events. They can better transmit magic skills. So, as Andi said, the shops need to evolve. Here's how. Shops should host their own magic clubs. Encourage magicians to come in once a month to meet, talk magic, and share. They should host lectures. Shops should offer classes. The internet can't do personal instruction and shops can. They're the only vehicle to sell you the props and resources, and then SHOW YOU the proper way to use it. Shops should put serious effort into training their demo artists. We've all been to shops where a kid behind the counter can't do anything. And hopefully we've been to shops where the guy behind the counter makes EVERYTHING look easy and wonderful. THOSE guys are critical, yet fewer and fewer shops have polished magicians working there. That's my take on it... Joshua Jay |
Tom Dobrowolski Special user 656 Posts |
Hi Josh:
I'm glad you chimed in. I would agree with pretty much everything you said. The key is to get them into the shop that first time. Unfortunately a lot of the newer magicians get most of their initial contact with magic and other magicians through the web and/or other social media. They become immersed in that as their magic community and don't feel they need anything more. They may not even be aware there are real life alternatives like brick and mortar shops and clubs. It's overcoming this inertia and getting them in to the shop. We did have a lot of newer magicians in for a recent Wayne Houchin lecture and he even stressed the advantages and importance of supporting magic shops. We'll see if they come back. I have nothing against the virtual magic communities,limiting your experiences to just that when you have a good shop and/or club in your area is a big mistake. Let me say that goes both ways. Ignoring the virtual magic communities is also a mistake. - Tom |
scottsheltonmagic New user Raleigh, NC 59 Posts |
I love brick-and-mortar shops and we all have a vested interest in seeing them succeed. One thing I would like to see more of (but I don't know if it's possible) are exclusive items sold at brick-and-mortar shops. For instance, I once visited a magic shop in London and was hoping to see some exclusive magic that I could only get there in England. Alas, it was the same sponge balls, linking rings, card tricks, ropes, and books that I could find in the States. Same when I visited a magic shop in Hong Kong and a local street vendor in India. No offense to those stores, but they were basically like every other magic shop I've ever visited.
Why does this matter? Why do you ever choose one place over another when making any purchase? 1. Price 2. Selection/Availability 3. Quality 4. Customer Service 5. Ease of Use (when buying online) / Store Layout (retail shops) Magic is a niche market and almost all online and retail shops sell items at roughly the same price, so you can't differentiate yourself based on price. The quality of a given trick is the same at all stores, unless you're selling cheap knock-offs. Customer service is something that retail shops should tout more as Joshua points out. And all stores in this day and age should have a great website if you want to survive, regardless of whether you're online only or have a physical store. All of which leaves us with product selection as one of the few differentiators. Since magic is a niche market anyway, magic shops usually want to carry all of the same general items to meet the needs of their target segment. Likewise, magicians who sell their new products want to reach the widest market so they sell the same thing to all retail stores. There's a lot of logic in that, but it doesn't differentiate them at all. Even if a small percentage of their offerings were original, at least it would start to set them apart a little. Imagine Chicago stores selling Eugene Burger books that had an extra chapter, contained autographed pictures, or an exclusive DVD. (The music, video, and toy industry does this already with variants sold exclusively to Target or Walmart.) What if the hometown magic shop of a creator's effect offered exclusive special editions? What if every brick-and-mortar shop sold an original type of gimmicked or ungimmicked wand that you couldn't find anywhere else in the world, even if the distinctions were identifiable only by magicians? These products may even go for higher prices in the collectors' market. For the creative inventors who sell lots of illusions, what if you gave your hometown store exclusive distribution rights for at least one of your products? They could still resell it to other stores and offer it online, but you'd be helping out your local community by allowing your regional stores to make an extra buck every time one is sold. Going the other extreme, what if your online or physical store specialized in a certain branch of magic (say, mentalism or escape artistry), but you were the best in the world at it? Online stores are already trying to snatch exclusive distribution rights for certain tricks. Can retail stores compete? I hope so, for all of our sakes. Thanks, Scott Shelton |
AndiGladwin V.I.P. UK 587 Posts |
The complaint I mainly here from brick and mortar shops is that they can't compete on price against online stores. I'm sure that's true, but there are many things that a physical shop can offer than an online shop can't. If they focused on those, I think they'd be just fine.
As a side note, I can think of at least six physical shops in the UK that seem to be thriving. There is a market for them! --Andi
View my Close-up Magician website or Vanishing Inc Magic
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