Recent

Paul Reed Smith and Governor Wes Moore: photo credit Stephanie Lemus/PRS Guitars

Paul Reed Smith Day Declared by Maryland Governor Wes Moore

August 22, 2025

Timeless Elegance Meets Modern Performance: Introducing The ADJ Vintage Bar

August 22, 2025

Slingerland Launches Radio King and Studio King Outfits, Plus Spare Parts

August 22, 2025

Seattle Cascades Now a Fully Powered KHS America Drum & Bugle Corps

August 22, 2025
Reid Peterson (Audio-Technica U.S. Executive Director of Sales, Professional Markets); Julie Van Berg (Mavric Incorporated sales associate); Kazuo Matsushita (Audio-Technica Corporation CEO/President); Pete Petty (Mavric Incorporated principal); Manabu Aoki (Audio-Technica U.S. CEO/President); Jeff Beck (Audio-Technica U.S. Regional Sales Manager, System Solutions); and David Barrett, Jerry Silhavy and John Herr (Mavric Incorporated sales associates). Photo credit: Corey Walthall, Clyne Media

Audio-Technica honors Mavric, Inc. with its President’s Award

August 22, 2025

Solid State Logic Appoints Mark Skipper to National Sales Manager, Eastern U.S., for Broadcast & Live Audio Production Systems

August 22, 2025

Boston Crusaders Win 1st-Ever DCI Gold Medal Playing Pearl/Adams

August 22, 2025

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Chad Smith Launches Foundation to Champion Music Education, Access and Opportunity for Aspiring Artists

August 22, 2025
Friday, August 22, 2025
  • Contact
MMR Magazine
  • Subscribe Now!
    • Subscribe Now!
  • Advertise
  • Email Press Releases!
  • Current Issue
    • Past Issues
  • Newsroom
    • News
    • MMR Global
    • Supplier Scene
    • Upfront
    • People
  • Awards
    • Dealers’ Choice Awards Ballot 2024
    • Don Johnson Award Winners Archive
  • Directory
  • Get Support!
No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe Now!
    • Subscribe Now!
  • Advertise
  • Email Press Releases!
  • Current Issue
    • Past Issues
  • Newsroom
    • News
    • MMR Global
    • Supplier Scene
    • Upfront
    • People
  • Awards
    • Dealers’ Choice Awards Ballot 2024
    • Don Johnson Award Winners Archive
  • Directory
  • Get Support!
No Result
View All Result
MMR Magazine
No Result
View All Result

Amro Music: The First 100 Years

Christian Wissmuller by Christian Wissmuller
July 1, 2020
in The Sound of Money
0
939
SHARES
2.3k
VIEWS
Share on Facebook
ADVERTISEMENT

In 2021, Memphis Tennessee’s Amro Music will be celebrating its centennial. It is rare for a company to survive ten decades. Less than 50 percent of U.S. firms are over 100 years old. To get a taste of Amro’s secret sauce, you need to dig below the surface, where you’ll find some hints. I recently had this opportunity when Mr. Averwater agreed to be my guest on “The Sound of Money Live” which premiered on June 16 (fb.com/mmrmagazine), and which I hosted.

For those who are connected to the NAMM community, Chip Averwater needs no introduction. If you need a memory-jogger, here it is: Averwater is past chairman of Amro Music and part ofthe third-generation of Amro Averwater retailers. He’s also a former chairman of NAMM, a frequent keynote speaker on music education and retail, and author of Retail Truths.

ADVERTISEMENT

Although Retail Truths was published in 2012, this book provides a complete “how to” roadmap for your post-COVID playbook. Just add “Health” and “Safety” as additional factors to address and you’ll be all set.

What prompted a recent re-read for me was the term Averwater used for his subtitle: “The Unconventional Wisdom of Retailing.” Unconventional wisdom often means fresh insights or out-of-the-box thinking. What makes this unconventional for Averwater is the belief that retailers do best when they directly learn practical insights and techniques on the frontline. He says: “Negotiating with suppliers, choosing among job applicants, setting profitable prices, resolving employee disputes, sending messages to competitors, designing motivational incentive plans, firing employees, attracting bankers. We learn these one-at-a-time, in the trenches, under-fire, and with considerable costs and consequences.”

Chip Averwater possesses a unique collection of leadership qualities. Here’s his short-list:

Modesty: The original bio Averwater sent me was clearly understated. I had to go back to him a few times and ask, “Can I use this? …and what about this?” I think he finally acquiesced only because of my persistence.

Focus: Chip believes we can do one thing (or a few things) well, but we can’t do everything well. Decide what you want to do, and do it profitably.

Trust: “I think you have to assume the best about people. Make them prove you’re right or wrong. Act like you want them to become. If you think you have a good person, usually they will live up to that trust.”

Patience: “I remember I had an employee who came to my office one time, and she was shaking. She said, ‘I’m afraid you’re going to lose your patience.’” Chip asked if she ever heard him lose his patience. She said, “Yes, two years ago, I heard you speaking with an employee and you lost your patience.” He laughed when he told me this story, saying you slip up once, and your team will find out.

Innovation: I was curious how Averwater promotes a culture of innovation, so I asked him. He and his team came up with an idea to better engage Amro’s band directors so a Board of Directors was created. “We would invite a half-dozen band directors to lunch, and they would come back with great ideas that we didn’t know.”

Training: With passion, Averwater talks about the extraordinary skills required to become a world-class sales professional. The salesperson has literally a few seconds to transition the conversation into a relationship, through caring and active listening. He told me that the sales profession is one of the most unappreciated skills, requiring relationship development, product expertise, genuine caring, and powerful listening skills: “A successful sales professional has a lot of skills, and they deserve to get paid well.”

I asked Chip Averwater what some of the biggest mistakes retailers make are. He said, “One of the biggest mistakes is trying to do too many things. We can’t do everything well. It’s kind of like juggling plates. If we are juggling more than we can handle, we will start dropping one or two.”

Averwater said the second biggest mistake retailers make is opening too many stores. For example, let’s say you have two stores: “The second store is never as profitable as the first store.”

He calls this “the diffusions of efficiency.” The further you get away from the store, the less efficient it becomes. One day you realize you have so many stores, you are no longer making a profit.

Chip Averwater’s brother Pat is Amro’s current chairman and the baton has already been passed to the fourth generation of Amro Averwaters. C.J. (Chip’s son) is president and Nick (Pat’s son) is band department manager. With two grandchildren tuning up, the fifth generation is well positioned to debut their own symphony. You can view the entire conversation on fb.com/mmrmagazine/videos.

Jaimie Blackman — a former music educator & retailer— is co-founder of BH Wealth Management. The organization offers financial advice, insurance and succession planning services. Jaimie hosts The Sound of Money Live presented by MMR. Discover how much risk is in your portfolio. Visit bhwealth.com/riskvideo. Registered Representative, First Allied Securities, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. 

Previous Post

Silver Lining? Maybe?

Next Post

Santa Monica Music: Their Story Could be Your Story

Related Posts

Magazine Archive

The Score is Not the Music

June 6, 2022
The Sound of Money

Orchestrating Your Own Disney Ending

June 28, 2021
The Sound of Money

From FOMO to GROMO

June 2, 2021
The Sound of Money

Mirror, Mirror – How Valuable is my Business?

April 30, 2021
The Sound of Money

Managing the Dissonance of Financial Stress

March 31, 2021
The Sound of Money

Leadership Founded in Love

March 2, 2021
Next Post

Santa Monica Music: Their Story Could be Your Story

Please login to join discussion
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

Furch Guitars Introduces Pioneer Series: All-Solid-Wood, Travel-Friendly Short-Scale Guitars

July 21, 2025

Jessica Tropea Joins Neutrik Americas as Customer Solutions Engineer

August 15, 2025

Music Sales swoops for Carisch

April 8, 2015

NAMM’s Top 100 Dealer Awards Rebranded as The NAMM Retail Awards

July 21, 2025
Paul Reed Smith and Governor Wes Moore: photo credit Stephanie Lemus/PRS Guitars

Paul Reed Smith Day Declared by Maryland Governor Wes Moore

Timeless Elegance Meets Modern Performance: Introducing The ADJ Vintage Bar

Slingerland Launches Radio King and Studio King Outfits, Plus Spare Parts

Seattle Cascades Now a Fully Powered KHS America Drum & Bugle Corps

Paul Reed Smith and Governor Wes Moore: photo credit Stephanie Lemus/PRS Guitars

Paul Reed Smith Day Declared by Maryland Governor Wes Moore

August 22, 2025

Timeless Elegance Meets Modern Performance: Introducing The ADJ Vintage Bar

August 22, 2025

Slingerland Launches Radio King and Studio King Outfits, Plus Spare Parts

August 22, 2025

Seattle Cascades Now a Fully Powered KHS America Drum & Bugle Corps

August 22, 2025
ADVERTISEMENT
The Latest News and Gear in Your Inbox - Sign Up Today!
  • August 2025

    Articles | Digital Issue
  • July 2025

    Articles | Digital Issue
  • June 2025

    Articles | Digital Issue
  • May 2025

    Articles | Digital Issue
  • April 2025

    Articles | Digital Issue
© 2005 - 2025 artistpro, LLC
7012 City Center Way, Suite 207
Fairview, Tennessee 37062
(800) 682-8114

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe Now!
    • Subscribe Now!
  • Advertise
  • Email Press Releases!
  • Current Issue
    • Past Issues
  • Newsroom
    • News
    • MMR Global
    • Supplier Scene
    • Upfront
    • People
  • Awards
    • Dealers’ Choice Awards Ballot 2024
    • Don Johnson Award Winners Archive
  • Directory
  • Get Support!

© 2005 – 2024 artistpro, LLC 7012 City Center Way, Suite 207 Fairview, Tennessee 37062 (800) 682-8114

This is Modal Title

Click Me
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?