Who owns long mcquade

We only have two stores in Quebec at this point, so that is a growth area for sure. There are [still] certain parts of Toronto where we know we could put a store and it would do business. We are putting a second store in Ottawa this year and there is probably room for a third.

As a big chain, are you putting smaller independent stores out of business? Our model has never been to find a city that has three music stores and go in there and try and steal the business from them. We have always gone into smaller markets when somebody has come to us and said, "I want to retire," or "I want to be part of a bigger company because doing everything on my own is really hard.

There are a lot of independents that have joined up with us, and pretty well all of them are really positive about it. Are all your stores corporately owned? Franchising wouldn't work, because our business model is different from every other business model. It is almost counter-intuitive. We take a very long term view of our customers — a cradle-to-grave thing. Most people who are musicians, through their whole life they identify as being a musician.

They might take piano lessons when they are little, then they might be in a school band, then a rock band in high school. They might get an acoustic guitar when they are in their 20s, and when they get older they might become a collector of expensive guitars. We want to interact with them all the way through. So, very often, we are not really concerned with making the big sale. We want to be the company that, whenever this person needs anything regarding music, he immediately comes to us.

How do you make your stores appeal to those regular customers? One of the things we try to do is have events on at our stores, whether it is somebody playing on a Saturday, or a clinic or something. These aren't aimed at selling, they are aimed at just getting people to come to the store.

It builds up loyalty. Have there been big changes over the years in what you sell? One of the areas that has changed the most is home recording. Pricing has come way down. Now you don't get that any more. Then he might buy a couple of microphones. Are woodwind and brass-band instruments still selling? It goes up and down in various parts of the country.

You'll get some school board somewhere that has a budget cut, or the person in charge decides that music isn't really very important, and they will cancel all the band programs.

But there have been enough studies that show that music makes your brain smarter, and a lot of people realize that music is a good part of learning. That hasn't saved all the band programs, but it has kept enough of them going, and when someone does try to cancel one, people get up in arms and they come back again.

Are aging baby boomers, who used to be in bands, spending a lot on expensive guitars? That definitely happens. We joke that all guitar players have 12 guitars. That's because every guitar is different, and once you get them you don't really want to get rid of them. That creates sort of an endless market. Are there a lot of low-end instruments made in China? Sure, instruments are made in China [but] a lot of instruments are made in other countries.

We do some manufacturing ourselves here, not instruments, but sound systems. But often, you are looking at a really long-term life of a product, so price isn't the main thing. There are many, many people who have had a guitar for 50 years. A lot of times people want to buy a really nice acoustic guitar and keep it for the rest of their life. We really try to stay away from the cheap stuff.

If you buy a cheap guitar and the action is not very good and you can't get it in tune, you'll get discouraged and quit. I want to feel that I could walk around our store and pick up any instrument and play it.

Your family also owns Yorkville Sound, which makes amps and sound systems in Canada. To find the best deals on products from all of our stores check out our Deal Centre.

Think of us for parties, weddings, sporting events or weekend gigs. Renting is a great option if you only need the product for a short time or you'd like to try out an instrument before buying it. We also have special rental and rent-to-own programs for schools - ask our staff for details!

To learn more about our rental program, click here. Canada's Largest Print Music Retailer Between our Print Music Divisions at our Vancouver and Toronto locations and print departments all across the chain, we are able to meet your sheet music needs - from anywhere in the country!

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