We are starting a round of interviews to take the pulse of the brick-and-mortar retail chain. We open the series with Jordi Liso of Auvisa, a well-established store that is well known in Spain and dates back to 1985. Let's see: what is happening in the stores, and why?
1. In what year, and with what purpose, did AUVISA get started?
AUVISA started in Mataró, at Cami Ral 480, in 1985, focused on professional sound installation, DJ gear and equipment rental. In 1990, with the generational handover, the musical instrument and home studio departments were added, as they are known today. These changes were driven by demand from musicians in the Mataró area and the surrounding region.
2. What are your specialties? What families of instruments and equipment can be found at Auvisa?
What we are best known for nationally is probably our guitar and bass departments, since that is where we have stood out most ever since we added instruments in 1990. We are also present, somewhat more discreetly, in other departments such as digital pianos, synthesizers, DJ and home studio, where we have also done good work, but only over the last few years.
In the last four years we have also strengthened our drums and percussion department by organizing festivals with professional musicians from the world of modern percussion.
3. What sets you apart? What makes this one of the most recommendable places to buy?
Our goal is always for customers to be happy they dealt with AUVISA, and we believe the best way to achieve that is by showing, demonstrating and explaining the differences between products to help everyone who contacts us make the best decision. We have very experienced professionals to do this work.
4. As for the Internet, how do you combine the digital and the physical side? Do they complement each other? How?
Our website gives advance information about what can be found in our virtual and physical stores (Mataró and Barcelona), since we publish the real availability of the products we have in stock. That has been the goal since we built our first website in the early 2000s. Yes, they do complement each other, since many customers come straight to the stores to try, see or compare products we have available after having checked the website first.
5. What product families are most in demand by customers today?
Our specialty is the world of electric and acoustic guitars and everything related to that product line, although we are also known for having good synthesizer, digital piano, home studio, drum, DJ, pro audio and lighting departments.
6. Is this discrepancy also reflected in user demand?
Question 6. Technology is advancing at full speed. Software that splits stereo tracks into layers to remove vocals, quantization, audio pitch correction, electronic DJing, etc. However, record labels of prestigious artists recently announced the release of their new albums on analog tape as well, as the latest VIP trend.
"Historically, fashion has always come back around in every field. Now it seems that trends from past decades are returning, not only in music but in fashion too, for example. I suppose it is driven by nostalgia and longing for the good things of those years."
In the musical instrument world there has always been a lot of demand for products from earlier years, what is called Vintage, and for some years now the term Vintage seems to have spread to many other sectors. I remember using the word vintage many years ago and people outside our industry would look at me strangely, hahaha!!
7. Are guitars and other traditional instruments on the rise or in decline?
In recent years it seemed that the market for guitars and traditional instruments had stabilized or was trending slightly downward, but the lockdown has revived interest in these instruments. Having more time at home without being able to do much has given musical instruments another chance.
8. Do you sell audio gear in your store? Microphones, portable PA, other?
Yes, we have departments for all these products, mainly in our Mataró store. In Barcelona they are more specialized in electric and acoustic guitars and electric and acoustic basses, but the store does carry some microphones, headphones and audio interfaces.
9. What is your opinion of the boutique studio market, outboard gear and high-end peripherals?
AUVISA's philosophy has always championed high-end products. It is gear that has its justification, but it is very important to understand and verify why a product, of whatever type, has a higher cost. That doesn't mean it is more expensive, but that it offers something you can't get from lower-cost products. The important thing is to check whether what you get really makes up for what you pay, and that is where a physical store can't be replaced: being able to try the product and having professionals who help you see and verify the virtues of these products.
10. In what percentages would you combine these elements: price, service, after-sales support, catalog, specialization, stock, quality of the physical space, website?
I'm not sure I can assign a percentage to each of the elements you mention, since they are all important. I think a store has to offer all of them equally so that the customer or end user can find what they are looking for or need. The best place to find all these elements in their full essence is a physical store, because anything virtual, as the word says, can't be entirely real, even though it has contributed many resources and services with information to help choose which products best fit what each user is looking for.
