A WISH

[schundog]

What dealer is closing his doors? I see no such post.

Jack Baruth reported that Wolfe Guitars in Tennesee had closed, which is sad. It was a nice store.

[HANGAR18]

I have mixed feeling on this. One the one hand I want the Heritage guitar company to succeed and I do all I can to promote the brand name.

But on the other hand, the dealers (IMHO) should be taking a more active role in promoting the brand than some no-name, Joe-customer like me.

Maybe where everyone else lives, their little Ma&Pa guitar stores promote and sell the brand, but here, not so much.

 

My closest Heritage dealer seems to have become rather disenchanted with the company and has no interest in ordering any new guitars for stock and scoffs at the idea of doing so at my prodding. I tried telling him "You can't sell any Heritage guitars if you don't have any in stock." but that aparently didn't go over too well.

 

The next closest dealer hasn't had restocked any Heritage guitars since they sold out of their new and used stock stock. (I bought 2 of the last 4 guitars they had and one of them was a brand new H157.) So basically, I've talked to at least 4 Heritage dealers in this area, there are 2 guitars hanging on the walls between all four stores and they all tell me that if I want a new one, they'll order one. Big deal! What are they doing to drum up business? Don't they have any real salespeople left?

 

I want to support my local Ma&Pa shop but them telling me that they'll order me a new guitar after I've already sold myself on what I want to buy only makes them a glorified cashier. Heck, if all you need to do to be a Heritage guitar dealer is carry ZERO inventory and say to people who already know they want one "I'll order you one" than I'm WAY overqualified to be a Heritage dealer!

 

Jee whiz! I've been a salesman for various other products, is there some rule that says I can't become a Heritage dealer out of my residence? I have no doubt in my mind that I could outsell all four of my local Heritage dealers combined since they don't carry any inventory!

 

Heck, I'm getting ticked off just thinking about it! Four Heritage dealers in this area and they don't seem to give a crap! Anyone got a Heritage guitar dealership application I can fill out? I need to calm down. Time for me to go find a rum & diet Coke and come back to this board after I've calmed down.

[Gitfiddler]

In this still difficult economy, guitars and other non-essentials are the first casualties...and the last to come back. Dealers need to have stock on hand, but that is a costly endeavor for them. If a product does not sell, they cannot justify ordering more of the same. I wish Heritage and all of their dealers great success...and the ability to withstand current pressures.

[GASguy]

Well, after nearly three years as a member of the HOC, I recently purchased my first brand new Heritage guitar, in order to support the company.

 

Miss Ruby is finished in a color that makes the flame in the wood difficult to capture with a camera; I have been waiting for more favorable weather to take some pictures outside in natural light.

 

I do believe however, that this guitar has already been seen here on the HOC forum, in more than one photo, even though I purchased it brand new from a Heritage dealer, and despite the fact I have not uploaded any pictures.

[Guest HRB853370]

I have mixed feeling on this. One the one hand I want the Heritage guitar company to succeed and I do all I can to promote the brand name.

But on the other hand, the dealers (IMHO) should be taking a more active role in promoting the brand than some no-name, Joe-customer like me.

Maybe where everyone else lives, their little Ma&Pa guitar stores promote and sell the brand, but here, not so much.

 

My closest Heritage dealer seems to have become rather disenchanted with the company and has no interest in ordering any new guitars for stock and scoffs at the idea of doing so at my prodding. I tried telling him "You can't sell any Heritage guitars if you don't have any in stock." but that aparently didn't go over too well.

 

The next closest dealer hasn't had restocked any Heritage guitars since they sold out of their new and used stock stock. (I bought 2 of the last 4 guitars they had and one of them was a brand new H157.) So basically, I've talked to at least 4 Heritage dealers in this area, there are 2 guitars hanging on the walls between all four stores and they all tell me that if I want a new one, they'll order one. Big deal! What are they doing to drum up business? Don't they have any real salespeople left?

 

I want to support my local Ma&Pa shop but them telling me that they'll order me a new guitar after I've already sold myself on what I want to buy only makes them a glorified cashier. Heck, if all you need to do to be a Heritage guitar dealer is carry ZERO inventory and say to people who already know they want one "I'll order you one" than I'm WAY overqualified to be a Heritage dealer!

 

Jee whiz! I've been a salesman for various other products, is there some rule that says I can't become a Heritage dealer out of my residence? I have no doubt in my mind that I could outsell all four of my local Heritage dealers combined since they don't carry any inventory!

 

Heck, I'm getting ticked off just thinking about it! Four Heritage dealers in this area and they don't seem to give a crap! Anyone got a Heritage guitar dealership application I can fill out? I need to calm down. Time for me to go find a rum & diet Coke and come back to this board after I've calmed down.

There was a Heritage dealer here in Greenville, but he stopped carrying them, citing that they just didn't sell. I used to stop in there occasionally when I traveled up this way just to gawk and admire them. So now there is no Heritage dealer here. The local G&L dealer is afraid to carry them for fear that they will sit on the guitar racks forever. And lastly, I recently contacted a dealer up in the Midwest about getting a quote. At first they didn't even understand what I was asking for. Then, once they did, they said they would get back with me. That was a month ago-and still no call back. That to me, is an example of the I-D-G-A-S attitude. Its almost like, we don't really want to sell you a Heritage.

[JAM]

Let me start by saying I LOVE my Heritage H-535 and have been enamored with Heritage since I discovered them last November.

 

But, the jury is still out on whether I could/should get behind such a 'movement'.

 

For whatever reason, Heritage doesn't seem to market their products very well at all, especially in today's marketplace with the Internet, Facebook, etc. They have certainly not embraced it. Nor have they secured endorsements from top-tier performers. From a Wiki article:

 

" During the first several years of the company, Heritage advertised its guitars in the usual guitar magazines. These advertisements made it clear that Heritage was making guitars on Parsons Street in Kalamazoo, without ever mentioning Gibson by name, and the company began to develop an image as the alternative to Gibson at a time when Gibson was going through a period of transition and rebuilding. But at some point in the 1990s, perhaps in an attempt to keep costs low or because orders were numerous enough, the company all but stopped advertising. This lack of an advertising presence significantly limited and even diminished the brand's name recognition among guitarists. The Heritage name has grown, partly due to word of mouth on internet forums devoted to guitars and guitar gear, including the Heritage Owners Club, which was launched in 2007. "

 

Ramping-up Brand Recognition and Sales Volume does not seem to be #1 on Heritage's Hit Parade, and a grass roots movement on our part to do so may actually be contrary to Heritage's intent.

 

Heritage is a 'Boutique' manufacturer of Guitars. They aren't necessarily innovative in a Stratocaster/Les Paul sort of way. Their niche is Quality - the domain of small volume manufacturers.

 

Significantly increasing Sales and Production can have unintended consequences to the Brand we all love. Things like Quality and Price Point will be difficult to maintain should Heritage suddenly become the brand on everyone's lips.

 

And a downturn in Quality could kill off the Company more surely, and more rapidly, than the occasional economic hickup.

 

I expect to generate some opposing responses, apologies for that, but just some food for thought...

 

cheers!

 

Jim

[smaj]

We have a good selection at the store, the trouble as others here have eluded to is, just myself and Matt push them. We just got in a beauty 555!

[noonesperfect]

I remember reading that Heritage no longer makes banjos, mandolins, etc., due to the quantity of orders they get for guitars. They want to keep their focus on quality guitars first, and if they already have enough ordered, primarily from outside the U.S., I can understand not spending time or money advertising or giving the dealers any incentive to push. I wish more people knew about them, and that they were more popular here, but I can understand their position. We all want our choices validated, and having other people drooling over our guitars and lining up to buy them in the stores would certainly do that, as would seeing well known artists using them.

[Guest HRB853370]

I remember reading that Heritage no longer makes banjos, mandolins, etc., due to the quantity of orders they get for guitars. They want to keep their focus on quality guitars first, and if they already have enough ordered, primarily from outside the U.S., I can understand not spending time or money advertising or giving the dealers any incentive to push. I wish more people knew about them, and that they were more popular here, but I can understand their position. We all want our choices validated, and having other people drooling over our guitars and lining up to buy them in the stores would certainly do that, as would seeing well known artists using them.

On the other hand, I kind of like the fact that Heritage is not as common as the Burger Kings and McDonalds of the guitar industry. It makes our instrument of choice rather special in its own right, makes people wonder about what it is we are playing, and definitely puts them in the boutique class of instruments.

[HANGAR18]

We have a good selection at the store, the trouble as others here have eluded to is, just myself and Matt push them. We just got in a beauty 555!

There are a lot of Heritage dealers in Michigan, which is no surprise. But in this area, they just don't seem to be as enthusiastic as they once were.

[Blunote]

I have mixed feeling on this. One the one hand I want the Heritage guitar company to succeed and I do all I can to promote the brand name.

But on the other hand, the dealers (IMHO) should be taking a more active role in promoting the brand than some no-name, Joe-customer like me.

Maybe where everyone else lives, their little Ma&Pa guitar stores promote and sell the brand, but here, not so much.

 

My closest Heritage dealer seems to have become rather disenchanted with the company and has no interest in ordering any new guitars for stock and scoffs at the idea of doing so at my prodding. I tried telling him "You can't sell any Heritage guitars if you don't have any in stock." but that aparently didn't go over too well.

 

The next closest dealer hasn't had restocked any Heritage guitars since they sold out of their new and used stock stock. (I bought 2 of the last 4 guitars they had and one of them was a brand new H157.) So basically, I've talked to at least 4 Heritage dealers in this area, there are 2 guitars hanging on the walls between all four stores and they all tell me that if I want a new one, they'll order one. Big deal! What are they doing to drum up business? Don't they have any real salespeople left?

 

I want to support my local Ma&Pa shop but them telling me that they'll order me a new guitar after I've already sold myself on what I want to buy only makes them a glorified cashier. Heck, if all you need to do to be a Heritage guitar dealer is carry ZERO inventory and say to people who already know they want one "I'll order you one" than I'm WAY overqualified to be a Heritage dealer!

 

Jee whiz! I've been a salesman for various other products, is there some rule that says I can't become a Heritage dealer out of my residence? I have no doubt in my mind that I could outsell all four of my local Heritage dealers combined since they don't carry any inventory!

 

Heck, I'm getting ticked off just thinking about it! Four Heritage dealers in this area and they don't seem to give a crap! Anyone got a Heritage guitar dealership application I can fill out? I need to calm down. Time for me to go find a rum & diet Coke and come back to this board after I've calmed down.

Heritage would be better off without such dealers. If they dropped them, customers interested in a Heritage may have to travel farther to a dealer but there would be more guitars in stock.

 

What real value are such dealers to a company like Heritage? Heritage would be better off taking orders by phone and shipping direct to the customer in areas where they don't have dealer representation.