Waltons George's Street has closed down

Gregor Samsa

Didn't see this mentioned anywhere already.

Waltons music shop in George's Street had closed down. All business is being done from the Blanchardstown shop now. Seemingly it doesn't affect the music school. A sad day.

http://www.thejournal.ie/waltons-closing-down-3859494-Feb2018/

FR85

An institution is gone, I mightn't have bought much there but it was always visited!!

beauf

The Blanch store is brutal. Badly looked after instruments, no prices on the majority of things and staff who don't know the price of anything, and have to guess when looking up "the system". They've added even higher storage for the guitars, to make them even harder to access. Ancient strings on old stock. They should have split that store into two full floors.

They'll do well to keep the Blanch store open. Almost no one in it most of the time. Which is a real shame.

Ol' Donie

Terrible shame, this.

Schwanz

Had an interview with the boss a couple of years ago, an absolute gent to be fair.

feylya

Not really surprising, given the cost of city centre rent. It's not somewhere that I frequented, and I'm not sure why.

beauf

It's a Dublin, a national institution probably. I dunno why they are in the blanch center anyway. Doesn't seem the right place for it.

I get it's a struggle to complete with the web. Guitars just aren't selling theses days. Music maker is a shadow of itself too.

Gregor Samsa

I went into their shop in Blanch last year to try a few guitars with the intention of buying one. They had music blaring, which isn’t the best environment for trying out an instrument in, and seemed surprised when I pointed it out to them. I did buy the guitar (Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster) and they did a good job on the setup, but the experience in the shop left a lot to be desired. Price at the time on that guitar was actually cheaper than Thomann.

My wife bought my Taylor GS Mini in the George’s Street Store. She said the staff were very helpful.

I don’t live in Dublin now, but I did grow up there. There was a time in my late teens when I’d spend a good 2 hours in Music Maker every Saturday. Loved the place. Dropped in just before Christmas the year before last to take a look. It was a depressing experience. Low stock, and what they did have was uninteresting (Les Pauls and Standard Strats). I did buy a Telecaster from their online store a few years ago. I think it arrived the next day, which was brilliant.

Nearest music shop that carries electric guitars is an hour drive away from me now, so most of my purchases happen online, and mostly from Thomann.

beauf

Waltons would have been most peoples first experience of a music shop. Until they discover the other shops. Thats all.

The problem with Blanch is that it has too much bad traffic. Perosnally I avoid hte place unless I have no choice. Its not somewhere you can just casually drop into and check out the quitars and other instruments.

Royale with Cheese

And friend and I did our transition year work experience there, 17 years ago :eek:

We spent the week cleaning, and then putting together a load of cabinets they were going to display sheet music in. Meanwhile the guys in the shop largely stood around, begrudgingly dealing with customers when they had to. At the end of the week we said we were leaving, and there was a long awkward pause when no offer of throwing us a few token quid was made. So we went into the back room and took a load of strings and possibly some other useless shít like a kazoo each. The strings were even useless as when we got home we found out we had something like 24 A strings.

Anyway, I wholeheartedly apologise to Waltons for contributing to their downfall.

Ardent

People blaming the internet for Walton's downfall...

On a side note - how on earth do you drop a few hundred or few grand on a guitar without ever hearing it or playing it???!

Gregor Samsa

Ardent wrote: »

On a side note - how on earth do you drop a few hundred or few grand on a guitar without ever hearing it or playing it???!

It’s pretty easy. You put the product in the cart, enter your address and credit card details, and hit buy.

But seriously, for mass produced instruments, the sound, feel and build quality is pretty consistent for a given model. If you do get a lemon, or it doesn’t suit you for some reason, any reputable online store will have a pretty generous return policy.

Plus, consider this. You will never get to try any bespoke or custom built instrument before its built. And you usually can’t return them. And they usually cost a fortune. The only way to buy them (new) is unplayed and untested. And yet no one has a problem with that.

Why would anyone limit themselves to the small range of instruments that Irish stores carry? If you want a Strat or a Les Paul, fine, you’ll find a few hanging in a shop here - which might be handy if there’s a shop relatively near you. But if you want something like a Jaguar Bass, your options are going to be severely limited unless you look online.

Pete Moss

I can completely get the love-in for another stalwart Dublin store disappearing, in some ways, it's akin to Clearys closing. On top of this, for many years the George's Street branch was the closest thing to a mega music store in Dublin and plenty of people, myself included, probably spent hours messing around with various instruments when they were younger.

However, the Waltons staff, in recent years anyway, had a terrible attitude towards customer service. I never enjoyed shopping in the George's Street in recent years or Blanchardstown. I'm not sure who conducts the interview process for the company, or what their training procedures are, but it seems the staff are just given instructions to just stand behind the desk, have a chat and ignore as many customers as possible.

The Blanchardstown store is probably the closest music shop to where I live, but I completely avoid it now. I'm happier handing over cash in X Music or Goodwins.

Rigsby

Pete Moss wrote: »

Goodwins.

Now...there is a music store that Waltons staff should have emulated. You always get a cheerful "Hi" when you enter, and always get the feeling that you are welcome. Never experienced this at Waltons.

Sugarlumps

Drum selection, well there wasn't any of worth. lucky to have lasted as long as they did.

beauf

Pete Moss wrote: »

I can completely get the love-in for another stalwart Dublin store disappearing, in some ways, it's akin to Clearys closing. On top of this, for many years the George's Street branch was the closest thing to a mega music store in Dublin and plenty of people, myself included, probably spent hours messing around with various instruments when they were younger.

However, the Waltons staff, in recent years anyway, had a terrible attitude towards customer service. I never enjoyed shopping in the George's Street in recent years or Blanchardstown. I'm not sure who conducts the interview process for the company, or what their training procedures are, but it seems the staff are just given instructions to just stand behind the desk, have a chat and ignore as many customers as possible.

The Blanchardstown store is probably the closest music shop to where I live, but I completely avoid it now. I'm happier handing over cash in X Music or Goodwins.

Couldn't agree more. With all of that.

beauf

phutyle wrote: »

...Why would anyone limit themselves to the small range of instruments that Irish stores carry? If you want a Strat or a Les Paul, fine, you’ll find a few hanging in a shop here - which might be handy if there’s a shop relatively near you. ....your options are going to be severely limited unless you look online.

This is true of course. But regardless I would still prefer to try before I buy. I could pick up 10 identical quitars and only like one.

Alanstrainor

I never bought anything of much value in Waltons, it was always a place of last resort if the other shops in the locality didn't have what I needed. All the talk here of angry and unhelpful staff has been going on forever. I thought the same 15 years ago when I'd be in and out of town looking for my next guitar purchase.

I just can't believe they lasted as long as they did.

nelly17

Ah they were kind of up themselves in fairness I always preferred the likes of Music Maker or Musician. I think the whole Gibson exclusive dealership thing got to their heads for years. I was completely ignored in there until I told them I'm buying a Les Paul I'd like some assistance - was told come back Saturday between 9 and 10 when its quiet and we can take a few down for you. It wasn't busy.

beauf

I bought my first acoustic quitar in Waltons off Parnell Square. A Samick.

Don't think I bought anything else other than maybe a music book.

Even the current shop in Blanch, I just don't get why the guitars are left in such a random state and why nothing has prices and you have a 1000 guitar next to a 200 one. You can't shop like that. Its like they don't want to sell them.

Royale with Cheese

I bought a 2016 Les Paul Standard recently. Musicstore store in Germany had it on offer for €1888, but Waltons still had one in stock according to their site, at €2100.

I went in and explained the situation and that I'd obviously rather buy it in Dublin so tried to negotiate with them. The guy I was talking to was actually very nice to be fair, I made an offer on the guitar that he noted down and said he'd have to talk it over with the manager and then get back to me. I never heard from them again. I would definitely have bought it off them and would have upped my opening offer if they'd bothered to come back to me and negotiate but I just heard nothing.

Gregor Samsa

beauf wrote: »

I could pick up 10 identical guitars and only like one.

Fact is, most shops in Ireland won't have 10 identical models to try for anything even vaguely out of the ordinary. Chances are you'll be going in and the one hanging on the wall that has been molested by random shams for months will be the only one in stock. So it's that one or nothing. Sure, you can try it and decide you don't like it, but that doesn't leave you in much of a better position than buying online where something you don't like is easy to return. Where I live, it's actually easier and cheaper for me to return something by courier than spend the time, hours and diesel money traveling to a half decent guitar shop in the first place.

With the larger internet retailers, you'll at least get one relatively untouched (many online stores do a setup before sending out), and in its proper box with all the stuff.

When I bought my Jazzmaster from Waltons, which had been hanging on the wall for months, it came in a flippin' Epiphone box with an SG brochure :rolleyes:

But yeah, there certainly is something really nice about walking into a proper guitar shop, picking various instrument off the wall, and finding one you really like. So I do understand the position. I just think that we have limited scope for it in Ireland.

Cool_CM

sugarman wrote: »

Their online presence until very recently was shocking! With a pretty sub par site not indicating real time stock levels, price updates/cuts and other useful info like upcoming sales/events.. a coming soon/new arrivals sections etc.. all fairly amateurish. You couldn't even buy online! Only now they've got the finger out in 2017/18 ... some 15-20 years too late.

I used to always find it hilarious that you could pick Yugoslavia as a delivery option seeing as it hasn't existed since around 2006 - turns out that you still can! :pac:

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

I bought a 2016 Les Paul Standard recently. Musicstore store in Germany had it on offer for €1888, but Waltons still had one in stock according to their site, at €2100.

I went in and explained the situation and that I'd obviously rather buy it in Dublin so tried to negotiate with them. The guy I was talking to was actually very nice to be fair, I made an offer on the guitar that he noted down and said he'd have to talk it over with the manager and then get back to me. I never heard from them again. I would definitely have bought it off them and would have upped my opening offer if they'd bothered to come back to me and negotiate but I just heard nothing.

I worked in a music shop for a good bit, like most places it really depends on who you talk to. Things are priced when they come in (RRP, "Street Price" or check your main competitor (generally Thomann) and either match or get as close to their price (for stuff where they'll for delivery) as you can), they might sit there for a while and become cheaper online but the tag will stay - nobody is checking the updated price because nobody has shown any interest.

If somebody picked it up and asked, or showed an interest in it, I would always check the price against competitors and let them know. If it had gone down, that was generally the new price. If it had gone up, then the price that was on it stood as that was the price that we were happy to sell it at in the first place (example of this would be when Fender changed their price points). This guy may have gotten a royal bollocking if he had gone ahead with the sale without asking first. He might not have felt comfortable with asking his manager if somebody could have €200 off a Les Paul Standard, or he may simply have also forgotten to ask. Difference is that we were able to do this because our manager told us that we could and should - selling things meant that we got to stay in business and things going out the door are much better than having shiny things sitting on the shelf. Being sound to people means that they come back and you continue to have a job.

It's a pity to see places close, but traditional bricks and mortar retailers simply have to move with the times if they want to stay afloat.

Mervyn Skidmore

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

I bought a 2016 Les Paul Standard recently. Musicstore store in Germany had it on offer for €1888, but Waltons still had one in stock according to their site, at €2100.

I went in and explained the situation and that I'd obviously rather buy it in Dublin so tried to negotiate with them. The guy I was talking to was actually very nice to be fair, I made an offer on the guitar that he noted down and said he'd have to talk it over with the manager and then get back to me. I never heard from them again. I would definitely have bought it off them and would have upped my opening offer if they'd bothered to come back to me and negotiate but I just heard nothing.

I played a guitar in store. I went back home to Galway and a few days later I thought I'd like to buy the guitar. I was going to buy online so I wasn't sure if it would be the guitar that I played that would actually be delivered. I emailed, no reply, filled out the enquiry form on their website, no reply, I even facebook messaged them and still no reply.

beauf

I assume the music school keeps the rest afloat.

Cool_CM

beauf wrote: »

I assume the music school keeps the rest afloat.

There's all of their branded trad stuff and their distribution network too.

Rigsby

What amazes me, is that considering all the negative comments about Waltons ...(there have been similar threads on Boards down through the years)...here, that they managed to keep going for so long.

Granted, it was an iconic shop, and perhaps their time was up, but they certainly did not go out of their way to help themselves with regards to their customer service.

Royale with Cheese

Cool_CM wrote: »

This guy may have gotten a royal bollocking if he had gone ahead with the sale without asking first. He might not have felt comfortable with asking his manager if somebody could have €200 off a Les Paul Standard, or he may simply have also forgotten to ask.

I've absolutely no problem with them not being able to do a deal on the spot. What I can't understand is not bothering to follow up with a customer who has expressed a genuine interest in spending €1900-2000 in your store. Also I believe it was the George's Street manager I was dealing with (when I asked about negotiating a price the staff pointed me in his direction). He was going to talk it over with the overall store owner.

eviltimeban

Haven't bought a new guitar in decades. Second hand all the way. Plenty of good guitars for sale on Adverts for example, and there's a very healthy trading market for pedals too.

Because of that I never saw the need to visit a guitar shop except to get strings and accessories (and to just window shop).