Drum Center of Portsmouth

"The boutique area is our main focus, and that’s where we do a lot of our business,” Shane Kinney says of his Drum Center of Portsmouth.

It’s that focus that has made Kinney something of a retailing star in a considerably short time. He opened his operation not even five years ago, and he already had to expand his brick and mortar operation. But that’s just half of the story – or 22 percent of it, rather. Right along side of that he’s built an impressive online operation where his reputation for high-end, quality, not-seen-just-anywhere products has earned him a noble following of drummers. How impressive? His online sales account for 78 percent of his total business.

“There is nothing that will replace that feeling of holding a guitar and strumming it, or holding a drum in your hand and hitting it with a stick, but people who think that’s the only way to sell instruments will just go out of business eventually,” he says. “This is the new reality.”

Kinney started playing drums at 12, and his loitering in music stores eventually earned him a job at a drum store in Portland, Maine, where he worked for 10 years. His musical journey started in metal and spread into pop, jazz, and funk. “I also developed an interest in the sound of the drums and cymbals that were being captured on recordings,” he says. His obsession would develop into a never-ending quest for the “perfect” snare sound, which would serve him well when he opened his own store in 2009. “I had an idea about the type of shop I wanted to create, and I felt it had not been done, so I went for it. It was the best choice I ever made.”

Drum Center has a laudable website. Kinney turned to colleague Andy Gulbrandson and made him a consultant for the first few years. “He still offers good feedback to me!” Kinney says. Also, one of his customers happened to be talented with a video camera, leading to a video presence that’s sent the Drum Center to the forefront of YouTube demonstration videos – he’s notched over five million views on his videos, which number over 2,500.

“I try to present everything the way I would like it presented,” he says. “One thing I’ve found is that if you’re sincere and enthusiastic, that will come across to the viewer.”

To see an upstart do so well so fast is certainly an anomaly and one Kinney appreciates. “I know, I can’t believe it either!” he laughs. “When I started, I had just my own dollars _ I didn’t borrow anything. The first 10 months, I was the only employee.”  Today he has a staff of five, and that staff covered for him while he sat down with MMR to talk the business of drums.

 

MMR: It was risky opening a drum shop during the Great Recession …

Shane Kinney: My joke about that is I’m a musician – so I’m always broke and it’s always a recession! [laughs] So it didn’t matter to me if times were good or not. I was used to not having money and I like to take risks. But it was just something I had to do.

I was living in Portland at the time, so it required me to relocate, and I’m technically in the Boston trade area.

What was it like opening up lines?

SK: I did run into resistance with some of the major manufacturers despite the fact I met all the requirements. That was a big problem for me in the beginning! I had everything going against me that first year.

I did get to open up Mapex and Sonor, who make great drums, but weren’t “market” names. Mapex and Sonor, are great partners, but if you want a drum customer to think you’re serious you need to have those others. It’s easier to sell a Mapex product if you have Pearl and Tama as well.

What did you do?

SK: What that did was force me to go boutique, which was an opportunity I hung my hat on and it’s a big part of my explosive growth. I’m very grateful that all happened! Otherwise I would have been forced to sell Yamaha and Pearl at the lowest price like everybody else.

But today you carry Yamaha, Pearl, Gretsch, Ludwig, Tama.

SK: Yeah – we carry everything but DW now! What happened was those vendors needed me to “prove myself” and I did.

Cymbals?

SK: The big guys: Zildjian, Sabian, Meinl, Paiste. Then UFIP, Istanbul Agop, Istanbul Mehmet, and Crescent … it’s an interesting time for cymbals, and a little challenging. What we’re finding working for us are the boutique lines, the smaller lines. We do well with Meinl and UFIP. Zildjian is of course a good seller.

And how about hardware?

SK: We do a lot of the hardware that comes from the manufacturers of the drums we carry. Otherwise, we sell a lot of Trick and Axis products. Gibraltar thrones are big sellers!

Cases?

SK: We do a good amount of SKB and Protechtor.

Electronic Drums?

SK: Yeah we carry Yamaha but barely sell it because the people who are selling online bundle it and sell it so cheaply that it’s not worth it to train my staff on it and put it on the floor for a customer to come in and ask us to match [an online price] and make $15 on a $700 sale.

I’ve heard that the “problem” in the drum market is that the moderate sets at the $1,500 level are so good it’s harder to make that high end sale – true for you?

SK: That’s the issue. A lot of customers are getting hip to the fact that there are really great sets in the $1,200 to $1,500 range. These customers are your middle class guys and when they go to buy their first “high end” set they are looking at the Pearls, Tamas, and Yamahas in that range, kits that are as good as those twice that price. So the high-end drum market has suffered quite a bit. However, on the boutique side, there’s lots of activity.

I’m intrigued by your wall of 175 snare drums. I thought of a drummer I play with who has 42 snares, which is unusual, no? But like guitarists, it seems drummers should have more options…

SK: You just nailed it. There’s a different tool for every job. Just like guitarists have a lot of different guitars, drummers should have a lot of different snares. And I try to communicate that a high quality instrument gives you inspiration – it makes you a better player.

That wall is in itself inspiring…

SK: Thanks – and the majority of them are boutique. We are the only store in America that carries some of those brands. We have exotic ones, and people come for that. I have someone coming in from Hungary today to look at them!

What’s funny about that wall is it really just came about by happenstance. When we moved into this new space, the shelving was already there. We were going to tear it down, but thought about trying to fill it with snares. We didn’t know how we could get that many snares, though. Two months later, there we were, putting in two more shelves!

What are the hot boutique snares?

SK: Dunnett has been a consistent mover since day one. Canopus does well, as does Noble and Cooley.

Your website is very slick …

SK: [laughs] It did not start out that way! But now all aspects of the operation are symbiotic. We kept the original store, and opened up a bigger storefront two doors down. The original store is shipping and receiving, and lessons, plus that’s where we shoot product pictures and video.

Everything is interconnected via cloud-based technology, and that took a while to set up. And now it doesn’t matter how it sells, just so it sells!

What other kind of conversations are you having with drummers?

SK: We find drummers have an unquenchable search for tuning – it’s really a black art. Even a lot of famous drummers are coming to us, insecure about how they are tuning drums. We like to help with that, teach them how tuning a snare drum different ways can create varying sounds.

Videos and selling online are big for you, but what about the personal relationship part?

SK: A lot of sales are to clients we have built relationships with. Actually, when I say I sell online, in many instances it’s really selling over the phone! They see something online, then call and talk to us because they trust us. Our staff is extremely knowledgable. We specialize in expertise.

From your perch, what’s trending?

SK: There’s continued interest in American brands – Ludwig and Gretsch are both enjoying a lot of interest. People want to buy U.S.A., but there’s the “hip” factor too.

We do a lot of Yamaha custom kits for recording but in general, people want to put their money in brands they trust. Ten years ago, people would buy anything from ABC drum company, but today people want the legacy names.

How about drum sizes?

SK: We’re seeing bass drum sizes get smaller, going back to the 14-inch or 16-inch by 22. We always suggest the smaller size because they sound better. While the first time buyer is going with the five or six piece, the pros tend toward the three or four piece. Also we’re seeing hardware getting lighter! Drummers are tired of carrying it around!

What’s your goal going forward?

SK: Last year, we focused on efficiency, and now my new target is profitability. So the answer isn’t getting another drum line – in fact we might trim a few. But the target is trying to continue new and better experiences. One thing I’m proud of is a lot of competitors are trying to adopt what we’ve done, and that motivates me to do more.

At this point, I think we as an industry need to know it’s not about products, it’s about how to create drummers. Let’s create more drummers!

Any idea on how to do that?

SK: No! [laughs]

Sounds like you’re having fun.

SK: I really am. I can’t believe it. It’s really a dream to walk around the most expensive, high-end drums in the world and talk to amazing drummers about them. A lot of times we’ll be crazy-busy, and I think, “Boy, I could be selling insurance right now!”