{ Lick That Riff! }

I was walking through my city centre the other day and noticed something very strange. No, it wasn’t the massive concrete playground that failed architects had created. Neither was it the still icy floor for the fifth week running. It wasn’t even the increased Police presence that I had noticed. No, it was the Guitar shops, or, lack of. I remember when I started playing the guitar about 6 years ago, there were 5 guitar shops within at least five miles of my own house. Let me tell you a little bit about them.

Shops, shops, shops!

The first one I’m going to mention is my favourite, Noise Works. This is a medium-sized shop in relation to others in my city and it is located right in the city centre. It’s a friendly place owned by two men, both called John. They don’t only sell guitars, but they also repair them in their workshop in the basement of the shop.

My second favourite is a shop called TMC. This is the biggest out of all of the guitar shops and has the widest variety of guitars. I remember when I was about 13, going into this shop and being in awe and amazement at all of the Les Pauls and PRS’s that hung gloriously from the walls.

The third is Musical World. This I would say is between Noise Works and TMC in size, but it specializes in both Guitars and Keyboards. The fourth is Strings ‘n’ Things, and its a great little shop… until the owner opens his mouth. I don’t think I have ever met anyone so rude. So that’s the only mention I am going to give this shop.

And finally, the last shop is called Sutherlands. This shop does have guitars in but is more a guitar book shop. I remember getting a cracking little chord dictionary from this shop.

Where Have All the Guitar Shops Gone?

So, how many shops are left in my city? Just three. And the two that have gone might not be the ones you’d expect. Well one of them might be. The first shop to close was Sutherlands. This closed before the recession and it was probably due to the shops’ limited size and stock of guitars. It did sell some amazing guitar books, but with the internet ever increasing, it was only a matter of time for this little shop.

The other shop closed just a few months ago. It really shocked me when it closed because it always seemed the busiest out of the five shops. The shop that closed was TMC. The biggest shop of them all and some would say the best.

Why Close : Recession or the Internet?

I suppose one of the reasons would be the global recession. This closed many multi-million pound business so why would it stop at a little guitar shop? Although I think this is one of the reasons the shop closed, I don’t think it is the main reason. I also don’t think that there is a main reason for the closure of the shop. I think it was more to do with a number of factors. For example, the shop was on of the biggest in the city. This would have meant the shop had to pay higher rents costs, buy more stock along with other costs.

Another reason was definitely the rise of the internet over the past decade. Many people would sooner go onto the internet and buy from the comfort of their own home, rather than visiting a shop. Although with a Guitar I would choose a shop over the internet any day. The rise of the Internet wouldn’t have been enough to close the shop but coupled with other factors it played a big part in the closing.

Put all of that together with the way the popular music scene has gone in the past couple of years, with R ‘n’ B and Electronic taking place over guitar-based music, it spells bad times for the guitar. We need another Strokes or Beatles to come along. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before such a band comes along and sparks the guitar revolution off again.

So, I suppose, what I want to know is if you lot have felt the same guitar crunch in your towns and cities? And, if you think this has been more down to the internet, the recession, or, both? I personally think that the internet started the guitar shop slump, but the recession was probably the thing that ended up killing it.

I would love to hear your feedback on this, so get commenting people.

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