Rolling Stone purchases 49% of Heritage Inc and releases major plans.

[SteveinToulouse]

Kuok Meng Ru is Bandlab technologies ... and Swee Lee music in Asia .... and he just acquired a 49% stake in Rolling Stone.  It would appear that the main aim is to make 225 Parsons Street a" mecca" for visitors on a worldwide scale.  Maybe that's good for Kalamazoo but will it be good for Heritage Guitars ?  For me, the jury is out.

[tulk1]

On 9/15/2017 at 5:04 AM, skydog52 said:

No they didn't. Talking to Ron Howard there is a lot of asbestos abatement that has to be performed in that area.

Wait a minute!! Are you saying Opie has an interest in Heritage? ............ 

[pressure]

It appears Rolling Stone magazine is history.

http://fortune.com/2017/09/18/rolling-stone-magazine-jann-wenner-up-for-sale/

[skydog52]

5 hours ago, tulk1 said:

Wait a minute!! Are you saying Opie has an interest in Heritage? ............ 

They both play but this one.

 

 

 

[pressure]

I met and talked with Heritages Ron Howard at PSP10 and found him to be an enthusiastic and honest person.

Another Fab Heritage resource.

[StephenK]

I too wonder if this partnership will be good for Heritage Guitars. I'm old enough to remember the AMF partnership with HD and CBS Fender sale. Some good mostly bad.. Hoping history isn't about to repeat itself.

[yoslate]

16 hours ago, SteveinToulouse said:

Kuok Meng Ru is Bandlab technologies ... and Swee Lee music in Asia .... and he just acquired a 49% stake in Rolling Stone.  It would appear that the main aim is to make 225 Parsons Street a" mecca" for visitors on a worldwide scale.  Maybe that's good for Kalamazoo but will it be good for Heritage Guitars ?  For me, the jury is out.

This.  Very cool that a newbie, from France, only twelve posts, hits the bullseye with this one.  For those of you hip to music blogger Bob Lefsetz, he posted yesterday about Jann Wenner's history as a publisher and "Rolling Stone" as a chronicle of music and things cultural, as well as its descent into relative irrelevance, now a "brand"...of sorts.  And Wenner, or more technicall his son, Gus has, as Stevein notes, let 49% of it go to BandLab Technologies.  There was an article about this in yesterday's "New York Times," as well.  I really hope this all bodes very, very well for Heritage, but we'll see.

[TalismanRich]

I never knew that Rolling Stone had any "destination" aspects,  save for the ill-fated venture into the restaurant business.   Perhaps they are trying to build the brand, in a way that Hard Rock Cafe has built a brand.    Regardless of the somewhat high prices for the food at Hard Rock,  I still enjoy going through and browsing at the memorabilia hanging on the walls.   It would seem a more appropriate partner than RS.    How cool would it be to have Heritage and Gibbons guitar pieces hanging on the walls?   

 

 

[bolero]

wow, exciting stuff happening for sure!!

I am very optimistic

IMO what Heritage needs is a higher profile with the general public, and more publicity about who they are, the history of the brand, and the location ( 225 Parsons )

 This plan they have seems to hit that nail right on the head. Heritage needs a way to make the general public aware of things we Heritage owners, a relative minority in "guitardom", know and appreciate about them.

 renovating and pushing 225 Parson's & Kalamazoo as a major international tourist destination, as well as partnering with internationally known media ROLLING STONE, looks like a great idea to me

 

[Farmboyjo]

I just had my first tour of the factory about a week and a half after PSP-X.  (Couldn't talk my niece into changing her wedding day...)  

Coming 1800 miles from Edmonton, I thought we'd we the furthest traveled - but there were people there from South America, France, Scotland, Italy.  All this in our little group of 16 people.

Heritage and 225 Parsons are ALREADY international tourist destinations.  But I'll admit that after spending an hour in the guitar lounge, there wasn't really much else in the building or surrounding neighbourhood that made me want to stick around.  If the new owners and everybody involved here make it an easier place to spend a whole day or evening, I see it as good for both Heritage and Kalamazoo.  After the tour, my wife said "I don't know if I want you to buy anything other than a Heritage guitar again."  That's the kind of feeling the tour gives, and the more people that get that feeling, the better IMO.     

P.S. Pete Farmer rocks!! I'd love to work beside him all day.

Kevin    

[ElNumero]

So is Rolling Stone Corporation same as Rolling Stone Magazine? By the looks and sound of it, Heritage is not a small company anymore, even if it is still privately held. 

[ElNumero]

On 9/14/2017 at 8:35 PM, Millennium Maestro said:

Thanks Paul, Your video was excellent.  

That sure was an awesome video Paul. I saw JL Fulks lurking in the background- the hurricane apparently kept him in Kzoo a little longer. It was nice to actually see Jeff Nicholson do a little speaking, I know he is the owner of PlazaCorp but he seems to keep a low profile. 

[DetroitBlues]

So if Heritage is partially owned by a foreign entity, what will it really impact?

Chrysler is owned by Fiat, but they still produce the same vehicles in the same plants before they were bought.

Toyota and Honda are foreign companies that make their vehicles here in the USA.

That being said, I don't have an issue with foreign investment (except China which I have seen awful business decisions) as long the foreign doesn't take cost savings measurements that compromise the guitars like what CBS and Norlin did to Fender and Gibbonss.

[tulk1]

Seems like they're trying to create a Sweetwater - Michigan Edition. Which, actually, is fine by me. ........... and I know they were waiting to hear what I had to say about it. 

[ElNumero]

11 hours ago, DetroitBlues said:

So if Heritage is partially owned by a foreign entity, what will it really impact?

Chrysler is owned by Fiat, but they still produce the same vehicles in the same plants before they were bought.

Toyota and Honda are foreign companies that make their vehicles here in the USA.

That being said, I don't have an issue with foreign investment (except China which I have seen awful business decisions) as long the foreign doesn't take cost savings measurements that compromise the guitars like what CBS and Norlin did to Fender and Gibbons.

Who the heck is Gibbonss? Some Billy guy from ZZ Top?

[ElNumero]

6 hours ago, DetroitBlues said:

So if Heritage is partially owned by a foreign entity, what will it really impact?

Chrysler is owned by Fiat, but they still produce the same vehicles in the same plants before they were bought.

Toyota and Honda are foreign companies that make their vehicles here in the USA.

That being said, I don't have an issue with foreign investment (except China which I have seen awful business decisions) as long the foreign doesn't take cost savings measurements that compromise the guitars like what CBS and Norlin did to Fender and Gibbonss.

And GM is 51% owned by Land Rover, correct???

[DetroitBlues]

4 hours ago, ElNumero said:

And GM is 51% owned by Land Rover, correct???

Nope.  Not at all..

 

 

[DetroitBlues]

4 hours ago, ElNumero said:

Who the heck is Gibbonss? Some Billy guy from ZZ Top?

Auto correct here is weird.

[FredZepp]

We used to refer to that other company as Gibbons here...   That way it didn't come up in searches.

[bolero]

 

that's funny....this is a howling Gibbon monkey

 

 

he kinda reminds me of Henry J, for some reason. Proof there is indeed some kind of Jung happenstance in the universe

 

[bolero]

well, I guess technically, it's an APE

 

" ooh, hoo hoo....I wanna be like you, hoo hoo..."

[High Flying Bird]

2 hours ago, bolero said:

well, I guess technically, it's an APE

 

" ooh, hoo hoo....I wanna be like you, hoo hoo..."

You need to stop spanking your monkey.

[bolero]

On 9/22/2017 at 11:31 PM, High Flying Bird said:

You need to stop spanking your monkey.

 

 hahaha

 

but the monkey likes it!!