[Tonehole]

I still have a few of their catalogues from 20 years ago they used to be my reference library and wish book. Better than a lingerie catalogue when contemplating life in the bath room!

I still look up the price of mouthpieces at times for reference and they have the mouthpiece tip charts in them.

 

[NobleAda]

Welp, I guess my WWBW credit card is probably worthless now.

 

[reedsburn62]

I've been at all three locations, unless there were more. 1st one was a house, then a larger warehouse type location then the purpose built location off the expressway. South Bend is only 90 minutes from Chicago so I went several times.

 

[tcroullier@yahoo.com]

The monumental saxophone and trumpet sculpture is still visible from the highway entering Southbend

 

[Bari Sax Guy]

Sadly, there were fewer and fewer venues to purchase music gear.

I always read on this forum about people going to brick-and-mortar stores and trying horns and mouthpieces.
I don't read about many people actually purchasing something at the store, other than reeds and such.

The music and art's store near me seems to make money by giving lessons, with a small sales room at the front of the store.

 

[LostConn]

I still have a few of their catalogues from 20 years ago they used to be my reference library and wish book.

Me too. It's interesting to be able to document how prices have changed over the years, and also to be reminded of certain brands/models of equipment that were once hot stuff but are now largely forgotten.

 

[JunkDude]

Most likely, this is a big nothing burger...just some restructuring. I would be surprised if the wwbw website goes away. I remember this tread from 2006...

https://www.saxontheweb.net/threads/wwbw-declares-bankruptcy.49137/#post-403774

For us little shops, wwbw was always like the "Walmart" next door to the "Mom and Pop". It was nearly impossible to compete with them, so when they announced bankruptcy in 2006, little family-run retailers got excited. Short-lived though...wwbw continued to kick our butts as if nothing had happened. I remember arguing with Eric(?) Alexander (Alexander Reeds) that I could buy Alexander reeds from wwbw cheaper than I could wholesale from him. I wanted to carry his reeds, but there was no way to compete. Sadly, this was true for a lot of products.

 

[etc-etc]

I remember arguing with Eric(?) Alexander (Alexander Reeds) that I could buy Alexander reeds from wwbw cheaper than I could wholesale from him. I wanted to carry his reeds, but there was no way to compete. Sadly, this was true for a lot of products.

Unless you got the same or similar wholesale price, indeed. You have a higher overhead, too.

 

[turf3]

I have a friend whose family owned a "discount store" - if you remember these. Basically the same kind of thing as a K mart, but family owned, one location in a small town.

At one point Walmart was running a special on fishing reels, and their retail price was cheaper than the family store could get them from the wholesaler. His dad went down to Walmart with a pocket full of cash and bought every one they had in the store, took them back to his own store, and put them on the shelf.

The family store didn't last too much longer.

 

[swperry1]

WWBW has been sharing inventory with M&A for quite some time now.

They all share inventory. Take a look at the storefronts for GC, MF, and WWBW: same products in/ out of stock, same prices, same specials/ coupons all the time. The only thing unique to GC is the used inventory and that’s because they have brick and mortar stores. I think a lot of folks just didn’t know they’ve all been the same for quite some time now.

For the folks making things up about numbers of stores because you haven’t personally seen them before and your Google machines don’t work: There are 305+ Guitar Center stores and 253 Music and Arts stores. They are not at all the same storefronts, but Music and Arts has been under the umbrella since 2005.

 

[etc-etc]

They all share inventory.

There are also differences between the items available on wwbw.com, Musician's Friend, GC and M&A. Promotions also differ.

 

[swperry1]

There are also differences between the items available on wwbw.com, Musician's Friend, GC and M&A. Promotions also differ.

They really don’t though. There are items on some that aren’t on others, but most are cross listed and they all price match. When GC is out of stock on something so is MF. Notice I didn’t include M&A in the comment about inventory. They also don’t put all the band and orchestra instruments on GC just like they don’t put all the guitars and basses on wwbw. Each caters to a slightly different audience, but at the end of the day they’re all the same entity.

 

[etc-etc]

Each caters to a slightly different audience, but at the end of the day they’re all the same entity.

Yes, that is correct.

It is, however, helpful to check all of them to see if an item can be located. Sometimes there is a mismatch in their databases.

 

[Guto]

Welp, I guess my WWBW credit card is probably worthless now.

It’s not. Check their FAQ linked to on the OP’s link.

 

[nhmaf]

Between Portsmouth and Manchester NH we have at least 2 guitar centers(fairly large stores) and a music and arts store (medium sized, and with 5-6 rehearsal rooms)

I only go to these when I need something quick, but I have shopped online with wwbw for many years

 

[JL]

They don't appear to have Rigotti Gold reeds for sale! Now I'll have to look for another source for Rigotti reeds.

Edit: I just went to the WW&BW website and they still have the Rigotti reeds listed. So, I guess I can order them there. I'll find out next time I try ordering some. Has anyone here ordered some Rigotti reeds from them recently?

 

[bruce bailey]

WWBW had the advantage of being local to Elkhart. A small town store would buy a $1,000 instrument for $500 plus shipping. A larger dealer would pay about $400 due to quantity plus shipping. WWBW would not pay shipping as tehy could just drive over to the factory and run the horns back to the store. Even a mega store who has to ship inventory is screwed..

 

[ratracer]

I had no idea Music & Arts had any brick-and-mortar stores, let alone an alleged 250.

In any event, as soon as Sweetwater launched a full-fledged Band & Orchestra unit, it seemed to step into the shoes of the old WW&BW as the leading online vendor for people like us (at least in the U.S.).

+1 on Sweetwater. Just ordered a whole horn pull-through swab. Reasonably priced, free shipping, a personalized email stating item shipped. Delivered very quickly as well. Worth looking into for sax related items!

 

[scotto]

+1 on Sweetwater. Just ordered a whole horn pull-through swab. Reasonably priced, free shipping, a personalized email stating item shipped. Delivered very quickly as well. Worth looking into for sax related items!

I bought a few items from Sweetwater, but stopped patronizing completely after their sales associates started calling my cell phone every couple of weeks asking me if they could help me with anything. I eventually told the guy to stop and remove my number from their database or I'd report them to the police for harassment.

 

[TwoPointFiveOctaves]

I bought a few items from Sweetwater, but stopped patronizing completely after their sales associates started calling my cell phone every couple of weeks asking me if they could help me with anything. I eventually told the guy to stop and remove my number from their database or I'd report them to the police for harassment.

Possibly over the top, but you do you.

Personally I have no problem letting a call go to voicemail, and I can get reeds with free shipping.