MORE RETAIL OPS EXAMPLES
UNDIGITAL DRUMS
Behind Chicagoland’s only independent drum retailer, Undigital Drums, is a musical instrument industry veteran. Owner Dennis Gerrits, who spent almost 20 years working for Zildjian Company, Ludwig Drums, and Aquarian Drumheads, asked me to help marketing his new shop, which launched in early 2024.
Dennis wanted to build a retail operation with both local and broad appeal, so I created the following content to support his mission:
Create product-centric photo and video content with targeted hashtags, utilizing Dennis’ connection with Ludwig to get reposts with the goal of garnering a larger, broader following.
Produce video content featuring popular drummers from Milwaukee and Chicago, like John Perrin (NRBQ, JD McPherson) and Jon Alvarado (Beach Bunny), leveraging their local social media networks to shed more light on Undigital Drums.
Script and aid in production of shop tour video with Wisconsin drummer Mike Malone, whose YouTube channel reaches many drummers in the state and across the country.
Film additional video content, using my personal brand to increase online impressions of the shop with comical and serious content.
In less than two months of publishing content, I raised their Instagram to over 1,000 followers, with their native posts exceeding 5,000 likes and 70,000 views. This supported increased sales both in-store and online, deeming the effort a success!
TWIN CITIES DRUM COLLECTIVE
After connecting with Lane and Kelly at Twin Cities Drum Collective (TCDC) in mid-2021, I was asked to go to work on a few projects. TCDC is a retail shop, but it also acts as the host to several brands of drums built by Kelly and a few drum accessories designed by Lane. My first assignment was to work on the product dev side, advising on marketing and use case for the Hoop PROtect rash guard. Following the success of our partnership there, we moved into working on the retail side of things.
To strengthen their retail operations, I’ve prepared reports ranging topics like:
Centering the focus of their manufacturing in relation to their retail store.
Optimizing profit margins through careful product selection.
Harnessing social media to attract customers across the country with the goal of turning TCDC into a destination drum shop.
Exploring the pros and cons of a TCDC membership program.
After TCDC gained an award for being Minnesota’s Best Music Shop in 2021, my goal is to empower Lane and Kelly with the right info to keep them at the top of their music retail game into 2022.
WOOD & WEATHER DRUM SHOP
Wood & Weather Drum Shop is a vintage drum retailer in Massachusetts. Owner Joe Barthelette aims to carefully curate his products and takes just as much care in the way he markets them. I was brought in to help develop video and alternative media-based strategies that would feel comfortable and authentic to Joe. I also needed to offer tech solutions to help Joe create high quality audio production in his retail shop that stayed consistent between filming sessions. After presenting several potential strategies and detailing their execution, Joe is looking forward to putting some of them to use in the near future!
Drum box
Drum Box offers remote practice spaces for drummers that include every piece of drum gear you could ever wish for. I’ve worked with owner Jake on several projects ranging social strategy to bolstering sales through potential retail channels. I look forward to seeing the business expand over the following years, and I’m proud of the work I’ve done with the company.
Click here to get back to the consulting home page.