Drum Workshop’s Chris Lombardi

One of the more significant events in the world of MI in 2015 was the announcement in early January that Fender’s subsidiary, KMC Music, had sold its drum and percussion brands – Gretsch Drums, LP, Toca, KAT, Gibraltar, and Ovation – as well as the Ovation guitar brand and exclusive U.S distribution rights for Sabian Cymbals, to Drum Workshop, Inc.

MMR recently spoke with DW’s president and CEO, Chris Lombardi, about the acquisition, the recent development which finds Sabian now selling direct to U.S. retailers, and Drum Workshop’s plans for the future.

Let’s talk a little about DW’s recent acquisition of KMC Music’s percussion brands, as well as Ovation guitars.

Chris Lombadi: Yes, it’s been incredibly challenging, but also very exciting! We acquired a lot of great brands that I still can’t believe we had the opportunity to purchase. I really feel that the story is not that we bought these brands, but that Fender wanted to sell them.

That’s a good point. What was the catalyst behind the move?

The catalyst was that we knew they are great products, but I feel like they were a small part of a much bigger enterprise. Therefore, in some cases, it seemed that the brands didn’t get the maximum opportunity to succeed.

Interesting. How long had the deal been in negotiation?

I first heard that Fender wanted to sell some, or all, of KMC before the Frankfurt Fair in 2014, so I’ve been working on it since then.

Of the brands involved, was there one in particular that was most appealing to Drum Workshop?

I think that all of these brands have incredible history and potential. The common link, to me, with these products is that they are all great, prominent, American lines that I’ve had an opportunity to grow up with.

Part of the initial deal involved your company acquiring the U.S. distribution rights for Sabian cymbals. In early March, Sabian announced that it would be selling direct to retailers in the U.S. going forward. Was this disappointing to you, or was it a development you knew was on the horizon?

I think it’s fair to say that it was surprising. However, I knew that it was a possibility and accounted for that in my negotiations. I truly feel that we could have done a great job for Sabian, as we are putting together an incredible percussion-centric sales force, but either way, I wish Andy and the entire Sabian company good luck in all of their endeavors.

DW appointed GEWA as the European distribution partner for the recently acquired brands. Can you discuss the reasoning behind the move and DW’s history with GEWA?

GEWA has been an incredible partner with DW throughout the years and we are very fortunate to be able to work with them on a broader scale. GEWA has made substantial investments into its infrastructure to support Europe as a whole, rather than as individual countries. I believe, going forward, that all businesses will have to look for partners in Europe that have a similar long-term mission.

What’s the current U.S. distribution model for the newly purchased brands?

Domestically, Drum Workshop will be the primary distributor for all of its percussion brands, with our own captive internal and external sales and customer service departments. Additionally, we’ll be supported by domestic distributors to handle the stores that we don’t have the ability to focus on, directly. Essentially, it’s the same model we’ve used for years for DW hardware and PDP. For Ovation, we are potentially going to use independent outside sales representatives because we want to keep that brand separated from our percussion-oriented sales team.  

Ovation sticks out, of course, as something of the “odd duck” amongst all the brands and might, at first glance, seem like a strange fit for DW. What are your plans for Ovation Guitars?

Initially, Ovation wasn’t part of the brands that Fender/KMC was interested in selling. However, for me, growing up with Ovation and knowing the history of KMC, it was a name that I felt very strongly about. We’re still working to figure out the specifics for the brand, and we have a lot of great ideas that have come from both internal and external advocates of the product.

Any other news or upcoming developments at DW that you’d like to share with our readers?

DW is predicated on innovation and furthering the art of drumming. From day one, our mission statement has dictated that we solve problems for drummers. It's at the core of everything we do at Drum Workshop. We're thrilled to bring this sensibility to the brands that we've acquired. That said, we have a myriad of new product offerings on the drawing board across all of our brands. For example, we have a new line of LP "street percussion" called RAW that's debuting in Frankfurt. We'll also be launching a new DW Collector's Series Custom Shop option and a brand new electronic set-up under the KAT banner. I think that drummers will appreciate the wide variety of products that we'll be debuting in the coming months.

A busy year! Speaking of, what are your expectations – both for Drum Workshop and the market, in general – for the coming months?

We’re working on integration, we’re working on understanding all of our new opportunities, we’re working on fixing things that were previously broken, and we’re working on new product development.