The corona pandemic brought a boost to the musical instrument store, but the last couple of years have been difficult for many entrepreneurs in the industry.
Corona pandemic time inspired Finns to take up the hobby of playing music, but since then many musical instrument dealers have been tight-lipped like other specialty stores. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores have been moved further from the center, converted to online stores, or stopped operating altogether.
Recently, the trend has been the same in the capital region as well. For example, in Helsinki, three brick-and-mortar stores have been closed in a few months. There is currently one small musical instrument store in Espoo, which has more than 300,000 inhabitants.
One of the withdrawals is F-Musiikki, which gave up its stores in Helsinki, Espoo and Tampere last fall. The offices in Oulu, Kuopio, Turku and Seinäjoki remain. The operations of the capital region are centralized in Tammisto, Vantaa.
Managing director Janne Kainulainen according to the closures are the economic realities. A musical instrument store needs a lot of square footage, a wide selection to sell – and enough customers. At the same time, you also have to invest in the online store.
“It's a shame that so many communities are already without a musical instrument shop. Especially in the center of Helsinki, the rental level of business premises is high, and shopping behavior has also changed. Fewer people buy larger items from the shops in the city center than before,” Kainulainen sums up.
Last year, F-Musiikki had a turnover of 22 million euros. The result was a loss of half a million.
According to Kainulainen, the year that has started looks challenging, as consumers' purse strings are tighter than ever. The bright spots in the clientele are professionals in the sound industry and performance technology.
“Fortunately, new schools are still being built, and equipment for teaching music is also being acquired for them,” Kainulainen exults.
In Turku and CEO of Soitin Laine, which has brick-and-mortar stores in Helsinki Jari Heinonen says that the corona period has brought a momentary rise in sales curves. However, a new decline began with the war in Ukraine, global supply difficulties and a general increase in costs.
Dark clouds are also brought by the austerity measures of the public sector, which can affect educational institutions' musical instrument purchases.
Soitin Laine had a turnover of around four million euros last year. The result was barely in the red.
“Instrument manufacturers and suppliers around the world are also in a difficult situation due to the general economic uncertainty. This has never been experienced before,” says Heinonen.
He says that foreign e-commerce giants have taken away the margins of local merchants – and also killed the playing hobby of many beginners, when a cheap online purchase acquired without expert guidance has turned out to be unplayable and serviceable.
“Many beginners, on the other hand, also seem to lack sufficient enthusiasm for training and persistence. It's going a bit the same way as with the hobby of reading,” Heinonen laments.
Traditional orchestral instruments, on the other hand, have fallen behind the band enthusiasm in school instrument acquisitions and teaching.
“There are enough guitarists, but it would also be good to have the teaching of wind, string and percussion instruments in normal schools. Then different ensembles and orchestras would be born,” says Heinonen.
To Tampere CEO of Music Kimmo Virtanen like his colleagues, he is saddened by the general decline in musical instrument sales and the disappearance of brick-and-mortar stores.
“The competition is fierce, because margins are small and fixed costs are high. Still, the situation in Helsinki is surprising,” says Virtanen.
Unlike many of its competitors, last year Tampereen Musiikki increased its turnover by 13 percent to around three million euros.
“Last fall, we did a major renovation in the store. As a result, the number of customers and sales increased, so there are very positive moods for this year. We hope that the result will also be positive”, says Virtanen.
In the future competitor F-Musiiki's withdrawal from Tampere also brings a tailwind.
“If you want to be successful, you have to invest in both brick-and-mortar and online stores. Many entrepreneurs in this field are already elderly, and there is no more room for renewal. With that, the younger customer base will disappear,” says Virtanen.
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